Rise of the Uzumaki: Fall of Konoha
by Born From a NaruSaku Lemon
Summary: Naruto grew up the beloved son of the Yondaime. However, when the Kyuubi reveals that even bright smiles hide daggers in their shadows, he becomes determined to bring Konoha to its knees under the leadership of the greatest leader its ever had—His father.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Well, it was bound to happen. I had to get off of my lazy ass and finally write the rewrite to Just Following Orders. There will be some major differences between the two and I feel they're for the better._

_Summary: Somehow the fourth survived the sealing of the Kyuubi. Able to be a part of Naruto's life, he grows up the beloved son of the Hokage. However the Kyuubi reveals to Naruto that even bright smiles hide daggers in their shadows._

_**Disclaimer: Naruto and co. are the exclusive property of Masashi Kishimoto.**  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Rise of the Uzumaki: Fall of Konoha<br>**

_Chapter One: A Change for the Worse_

* * *

><p>Three figures stood atop a cliff facing each other, though two of them were standing side by side, leaving the final person by himself. Clouds had begun to gather above, their dark shade an indication of the rain that was fast approaching, especially with the lightning that kept illuminating the sky.<p>

"I must admit, Dobe, I never expected you to become this much of an obstacle." spoke a raven haired teen, his voice calm yet with the slightest hint of rage, as he stood with his arm resting on the sword secured horizontally behind him on his waist. The person across from him and the man beside him regarded him with a grin.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm going to be the one to stop you." Blue eyes shifted from one person to the next, taking in the two who stood opposite him. The taller man on the left stood behind the shorter one, his posture letting him know that he would be a spectator to the fight that was about to take place though the blond had little doubt that he would hesitate to interfere if it appeared he was gaining an upper hand.

Two obsidian orbs closed momentarily before snapping open, now tinted red, the black tomoe, three in each eye, spinning once before settling in place.

"Don't kid yourself, Dobe. I'll kill you just as easily as I killed the rest of the rookie nine." He was trying to provoke the blond, and by the way his fists clenched at his sides, it appeared to be working. "Madara, leave."

The taller man obeyed the order, moving to walk away from the two, only to have to jump back from the yellow flash that appeared before him. The blond in turn had to jump back from the giant ball of fire that sped towards him, landing and catching the blade being swung at him between his palms.

"It's useless to try to prolong your life by trying to fight someone else, Naruto." the raven haired teen growled as he tried to put more weight onto the sword.

"I was trying to give _you_ a chance to live longer, Sasuke." Naruto kicked Sasuke away when he saw the telltale sign of his _chiddorigatana_. The raven haired teen quickly went through a few hand-signs.

"**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu**!" he shouted, placing his hand near his mouth as a volley of fireballs flew towards the blond.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" With a puff of smoke several clones of the blond appeared, deflecting each of the flaming projectiles before sprinting towards Sasuke as streaks of yellow. As they occupied him, the real Naruto dashed towards Madara.

"Quite insistent, aren't you?" spoke the older man as he dodged Naruto's attacks, purposely restraining himself from attacking him. "You're fight isn't with me."

"You attacked and killed my sensei to get my attention, and now you run?" yelled the blond, eyes turning yellow with a horizontal iris. "Sasuke can wait, but I will kill you."

Madara was sent flying when he failed to completely dodge a strike from the blond, having begun using _**Kawazu Kumite**_. Without breaking his momentum he spun and grabbed Sasuke's Kusanagi, gripping it tightly before thrusting his palm at the Uchiha's stomach, propelling him away. He created a couple more shadow clones before throwing the sword off the cliff.

The clones rushed Sasuke, each fighting him with the signature fighting style of the Toad Sage. Not being used to fighting one, let alone several at once, Sasuke was having difficulties. When he was struck behind both knees simultaneously, dropping him on his knees before his arms were pulled to the sides as a foot connected with his face, he snapped.

"**Chidori Nagashi**!" he shouted as a strong electrical current struck each of the clones, making their muscles tense before he struck each strong enough to make them disappear. "Naruto!"

Said blond turned towards him as he charged, engaging him in a close quarters fight, where Sasuke knew he had always held the upper hand. Key word being _had_.

Naruto was blocking almost every single attack Sasuke made, and his blocks were somehow also inflicting damage to him. His _Sharingan_ allowed him to see where the attacks were heading but there was a type of shockwave that followed them, striking him even if he dodged or blocked or parried.

With a final dodge he jumped back, flashing through hand signs only to be sent crashing when the shockwave of the last attack caught up to him in mid air. Picking himself up he glared at the blond furiously. He barely had a scratch on him!

_'Since when has he been better than me at Taijutsu.'_ he wondered, unwilling to accept that he was thoroughly getting his ass handed to him. It wasn't even that Naruto was better than him, he had thus far been unable to land a direct hit on him, but whatever technique he was using never failed to hit. A flash above him caught his attention before a smirk appeared on his face.

"No matter how fast you try to dodge, this next attack _will_ hit you." proclaimed the raven haired teen, a smirk on his face.

Naruto watched as Sasuke went through a string of hand seals at a speed that would have put their late sensei to shame. When he finished he raised his hand above his head, a lightning strike connected to the electricity crackling in his palm and remaining connected. The sky suddenly erupted into a chain of violent lightning strikes before the clouds began to swirl as a massive dragon made of pure electricity began descending towards him.

Panicking for the first time since he began the fight, Naruto quickly summoned more shadow clones and set to making something to block the oncoming attack. Holding both hands above himself, the clones all began molding chakra above him, a large ball of chakra beginning to form and spin, wind picking up and spinning around it, making it appear larger as four blades formed on it. He held the spinning orb in place until the giant electric dragon was closer.

"**Kirin!**"

"**Fūton: Rasenshuriken!**"

In an instant the two attacks met, Sasuke's Kirin threatening to slice through Naruto's _Rasenshuriken_, and Naruto didn't wait to see which attack would win out before he sped towards Sasuke, who was left vulnerable due to having to keep his connection to his Jutsu. Thrusting his palms forward, in an attempt to strike the Uchiha, Naruto was instead met with a supercharged _Chidori Nagashi_ and was thrown back in the direction he had came from.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." the blond muttered to himself, chuckling slightly. He checked his hands, clenching and unclenching them before nodding in approval. "Still, at least I managed to not have my arms paralyzed."

Across the plateau Sasuke was panting, having had to push out more chakra than necessary to force out that last electrical shock. He decided it was time to stop playing around, for if things continued the way they were, he just _might_ lose. With the blink of his eyes he had activated his _Mangekyou Sharingan_, and focused his gaze on Naruto.

"**Amaterasu!**" he called, black flames shooting out of his right eye and speeding towards Naruto. The blond quickly created two clones who jumped in the way and took the blast as he jumped to the side. However, that was exactly what Sasuke had wanted.

Without warning he sped towards Naruto, his hand encased in electricity that let out the sound of a thousand birds chirping. He was already close enough that there was no time to dodge and there was barely enough time to make a _Rasengan_ to counter with. As he began forming the ball of chakra, hoping he could make it in time, he became aware of a dash of pink heading between them.

Time moved agonizingly slow as he abandoned his attempt to make a _Rasengan_ and instead summoned a shadow clone to propel himself forward to intercept the oncoming figure. His heart beat against his chest, drowning out all other noise in his ears. The sound of flesh splitting had never been as loud as it was then, as he watched, wide eyed, as a bloodied palm was sticking out of the pink haired person facing him.

"S-Sakura-chan... Why?" asked the blond, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He felt numb, his knees felt like they would give out at any moment and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. The pink haired girl simply smiled, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

"I-I couldn't just sit back a-and wait for you to take care of this by yourself." she answered, grunting in pain before smiling sadly at the blond trembling before her. "L-Looks like I won't be able to go out on that date with you a-after the war like I promised." she whispered softly as she reached her hand out to caress his whiskered cheek, the blond closing his eyes as he remembered the small promise.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto walked out of the tent that the survivors of Madara and Sasuke's surprise attack were using to recuperate. He had just watched one of his closest friends die before him, and he was, understandably, shaken. He felt a wide range of emotions at that moment.<em>

_Overwhelming sadness was the strongest. He couldn't believe Shikamaru was dead, he always planned seven steps ahead in any situation. Guilt also clouded his mind, adding to the feeling of sadness in his chest. So many of his precious people had died in this war to protect him. He felt he should have been stronger; strong enough to protect everyone before it had come to this. He also felt anger, not hatred like most would have, for he felt that would have just been disrespectful to the ideals of his late master. He was angry at Sasuke for killing so many of his former comrades and at himself for not arriving sooner._

_In this situation he was just thankful that he had returned before the two Uchiha had been able to find the medic group, since Sakura was a part of that group and thus had been made to stay out of the fighting and heal as many as she could. He couldn't forget her face as she healed people when he had returned. She had been crying, unable to come to terms with the fact that their former teammate, and the man that he knew she still loved had just slaughtered all of their comrades. Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Tenten, and more than half of the alliance shinobi that had been at the camp._

_And as much as it had hurt him, he knew he had to let her deal with her emotions by herself. He knew she was trying to convince herself that she no longer cared for their wayward teammate but he couldn't imagine her actually accomplishing the feat. He wanted to believe that she would, but he felt that it would be like her ripping out a part of herself. She wouldn't be Sakura—his Sakura-chan—If she didn't love Sasuke, just like he wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't love Sakura. No matter how much he wished it weren't so for her he was convinced it was and had accepted it._

_So when she asked to talk to him after dinner that night he had never thought it would lead to what it did._

_"What did you wanna talk about, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, arms crossed behind his head and eyes curious. She seemed troubled but he couldn't read her mind, though he had an idea of what it might be._

_"You're going to be part of the group that is going to attack Sasuke-kun and Madara, aren't you?" Even though it was a question the way she said it made him feel that she already knew the answer. He merely nodded his head and she looked away, biting her lip as she thought of how to ask her next question. "Are you still convinced that you'll both die if you fight?"_

_Naruto watched her as she stared at him, waiting for his answer. She was holding herself, as if afraid that she might break down any moment. "I meant what I said; if we fight neither of us will win. Either we both live or we both die." he didn't miss the way she tightened her hold on herself, or the worry that flashed in her eyes. When she mumbled something he almost hadn't noticed she'd said anything at all. "What did you say?"_

_She shifted her gaze towards her feet, shuffling for a seconds while biting her lip, apprehensive to repeat what she'd said and Naruto couldn't help but think that even with her clothes stained in blood and her hair matted to her head in sweat, her eyes red from her earlier crying and the dirt that clung to her boots that she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen._

_"I said," she began, regaining his attention, "please, don't leave me alone." It was clear it was getting harder for her to keep her emotions in check, if the way her eyes were beginning to shimmer was any indication. "Have you considered how_ I_ feel about that declaration?"_

_"Sakura-chan, I—"_

_"No, Naruto, listen to me." she cut him off, staring into his eyes intensely. "I have come to terms with the fact that Sasuke-kun is a criminal and needs to be stopped at all costs, and it hurts to know we have to kill him." she said as a few tears slid down her cheeks. "I have accepted that more than likely he won't come back and even if he does he wouldn't be the same Sasuke-kun, but..." she stopped as she sniffed and wiped her eyes with the inside of her wrist._

_"But?" Naruto asked, waiting for her to continue. Where was she going with this?_

_"But I don't want to lose _you_." she whispered, staring at him as he stiffened, eyes widening. "I can imagine continuing on with my life after all this is over without Sasuke-kun in it, but not without you." she admitted, not liking the way she sounded so weak. "So please, stop thinking that way and just promise to come back to me."_

_Naruto was frozen in place as his brain tried to process everything that had happened, but soon his body reacted instinctively to what was happening and moved forward to embrace the crying kunoichi in front of him. As soon as his arms were around her Sakura buried her face into his chest and let herself cry. While she cried into his chest his mind was still trying to make sense of what was happening._

_Had Sakura just told him she loved him? No, she was still in love with Sasuke, wasn't she? But then why was she saying she was fine with Sasuke dying but not him? Why had she said she couldn't see herself living her life without him there? Obviously their friendship meant a lot to her—it meant the world to him—but could there possibly be something more?_

_He was brought out of his internal debate when Sakura pulled back and stared at him, her eyes wavering as if she would break any second at his lack of an answer._

_"Sakura-chan," he began, trying to think of what to say, "I didn't mean to make you sad, I just think this fight will be really dangerous and that me and Sasuke are about equal in strength." He could see that she disagreed, having seen him in his mastered Kyuubi mode, but he continued. "I would be lying if I said I was one hundred percent certain that I was going to win," he was rambling now and he knew she hated when he rambled, "and I will try my hardest to not kill him but I will also take him with me if he manages to kill me, so I don't really know what to sa—"_

_The world had stopped._

_Suddenly Naruto was aware of every fly around them; every cricket and every mosquito. He was also aware of the fact that Sakura's eyelashes were pink, something he had never noticed before, and how puffed up her eyes were after so much crying, and the lack of sleep from the past two weeks since the enemy had gained the upper hand. He became acutely aware of the smell of the alliance soap that everyone was provided and he could detect a faint taste of vegetable soup, strange since he had opted for the chicken soup. _

_And after a few seconds he noticed that Sakura had kissed him._ Sakura had kissed him!

_It had been quick, just a peck really, only with a little more force than a peck, but that had been all it took to not only effectively shut him up, but pretty much shut him down. His brain was on overload as it tried to burn the feel of her lips against his forever into his mind. Her soft, slightly chapped lips against his own dry, also chapped ones._

_When he finally came to his senses he noticed he was staring up at the night sky, and was apparently lying down. His eyes widened as he sat up, almost knocking his head against Sakura's as she had been checking him for injury._

_"What happened?" he asked, feeling a dull pain at the back of his head. Sakura couldn't hold the smile that spread on her lips._

_"You fainted." she answered, moving her hand to heal the lump on his head from when he'd fallen, scaring her half to death._

_"I did?" he asked and she nodded, giggling softly. "What was I doi—" his eyes widened as he remembered what had happened a few moments ago. "Wait, Sakura-chan, did you...?" he trailed off, her nod and blush providing enough of an answer. "Was that why I...?" another nod, this time with an amused grin on her face, which made him blush slightly in embarrassment. "But why?"_

_Sakura blushed intensely, suddenly very nervous. "You said I was lying to myself the last time I confessed to you," she began, looking down at her hand as she played with the zipper on his open jacket, "and while I may have been exaggerating my feelings towards you, I _do_ have some." she finished, afraid to look him in the eyes for fear of seeing rejection. "Besides, you were rambling; you know I hate it when you ramble."_

_"But what about Sasuke?" Naruto's question made Sakura glare at him softly._

_"Will you ever let that go? I told you; I'd rather live on with _you_ than _him_." The rosette caressed his cheek before she spoke. "You told me that you hate people who lie to themselves, and while at the time I deserved that," she leaned in closer making his heart beat faster in his chest but she stopped just a few inches short of his face, "look at me now and tell me if I'm lying."_

_Naruto hesitated before he willed some of the Kyuubi's Chakra into his eyes, using his new ability to sense lies on the girl in front of him, genuinely and pleasantly surprised when he found no trace of deceit. The smile he gave her was enough to let her know his answer before she leaned down to kiss him once more. Only this time he didn't faint._

_A few minutes later they were about to return to the group when Sakura stopped Naruto, making him glance down at her confused once again._

_"I want you to promise me that you'll come back alive." she said, her hold on his hand tightening. He sighed, about to tell her that he couldn't when she reached her hands up and cupped his face. "I don't want to hear any excuses; _you are coming back_, you hear me? I don't care if you have to run away, you have to come back. Promise me."_

_He couldn't help but smile at the seriousness with which she spoke, her seriousness to have him return to her._

_"Only if you promise to go out on a date with me after all this is over." he whispered, making her smile._

_"Fine. A promise for a promise." she said as she stood on her toes to give him one last kiss. And one more. And another. And then the last. And before they knew it they were in his tent, exploring each other's body in a way they had never done before, forgetting, if only for a night, about the upcoming battle that would quite possibly decide the fate of the world as they knew it. Inside the tent, however, nothing mattered except their wants and needs as they relished in their little slice of heaven if only for one night._

* * *

><p>Naruto was brought out of his reminiscing when he felt Sakura's hand leave his face, watching in horror as Sasuke flung her to the side like a doll being discarded. In a flash the blond caught her body, cradling her for a second before placing her on the ground, closing her eyes which had dulled, a clear indication that she had passed.<p>

"Same old Sakura, just as annoying as ever." Sasuke uttered as he walked towards the still kneeling blond, another _Chidori_ in his hand. "I guess it's true what they say, though. Third time's the charm." he stood beside Naruto as he smirked, noting how the fight seemed to have left the blond. "Sayonara, Naruto."

He swung his hand down, anticipating the feel of his last living teammate's flesh splitting to allow his hand passage only for the feeling to never come. Instead he felt a crushing grip on his wrist and the unmistakable sense of fear.

"Sasuke, back away!" Madara yelled, trying to teleport to the younger Uchiha's side in an attempt to faze him out of the blond's grip but the speed at which Naruto moved made his father look like a snail in comparison.

Before Sasuke could even comprehend what had happened, his left hand had been severed from his arm at the wrist, and he had been kicked away to give the blond room to grab the face of the man who had teleported in front of him, pulling him down before he knew what was happening and allowing a knee to connect with his face, shattering the mask that covered it. With a grunt Madara was sent flying away and Naruto was on Sasuke once again, picking the Uchiha up by his hair.

Sasuke opened his eyes to look at Naruto—noting the blond was covered in pure energy—his Sharingan letting him see what was going to happen but his body not nearly fast enough to stop the fist from connecting, or even launch an _Amaterasu_ from his eye. What he'd seen with his Sharingan was Naruto let go of his hair and actually real back before striking him, moving so fast gravity hadn't even had a chance to take effect.

As Sasuke lay on the ground writhing in pain, six figures appeared on the plateau, each appearing to have Heterochromia Iridum. Each one had one red _Sharingan_ and a pale purple _Rinnegan_. They stood surrounding Naruto, who flashed bright yellow before two of the people _disintegrated_, the rain washing away their ashes.

Madara stood baffled at what had just happened. He had just called the resurrected bodies of the of the previous Jinchiruuki of the Bijuu he had already extracted when two had been disposed of, the only indication that Naruto had been the cause being how he had glowed yellow for a split second.

Another flash later, the person standing to his right had also disappeared, and Madara picked up the silent message from the blond. He could have attacked him, but didn't. Deciding to go on the offensive before his last two bodies were destroyed, Madara willed them to attack the last living Jinchiruuki.

As they neared him Naruto dodged the first, shifting his gaze towards Madara before he slid his hand down the green haired girl's side. A second later she disintegrated as well.

Madara stood astonished. He'd seen what Naruto had done to the resurrected body, also knowing that the blond had _allowed_ him to see it. As his fingers brushed against the girl, Naruto left behind dozens of minuscule _Rasenshurikens_. The little bombs wasted no time in destroying the body. It gave him a sense of despair at the thought that he could have already succumb to the technique, only being spared on a whim.

Before he could reflect further he sensed the telltale sign of _Susano'o_ being summoned, also noting with disdain that Naruto had dealt with the final resurrected Jinchiruuki. He saw Sasuke ascend onto the plateau having been kicked off to a lower level by Naruto earlier, his face full of rage, _Susano'o's_ skeletal body forming around him, so he decided to jump away, leaving the blond Jinchiruuki to the younger Uchiha.

"Naruto!" shouted the younger Uchiha, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan flaring in his eyes. "I'm going to enjoy killing you!" he had barely finished his sentence before _Susano'o_ was reaching out to attack the Jinchiruuki.

Naruto quickly disappeared, dodging so fast he appeared to teleport. He reappeared outside of the giant chakra manifestation's reach, right hand outstretched as he began forming his newest technique, the _Bijuu Rasengan_. The ball of chakra was halfway formed when a large chakra arrow impaled itself into his left shoulder, almost ripping his arm off with its force.

"I'm not going to let you do anything else, you will die now, Naruto, by my hands." Sasuke was grinning maniacally, willing _Susano'o_ to attack once more when he saw Naruto abandoned his effort to form his Rasengan in order to direct his chakra to his wound in an attempt to heal it.

A second arrow flew at the same lightning speed towards Naruto, who ran forward to intercept it. Not knowing what the blond was up to and not taking any chances, Sasuke shot more arrows, aiming a few further on the outside, to cut off any dodge attempt.

To his surprise Naruto jumped on top of the first arrow and continued to advance towards Sasuke, using the other arrows as stepping stones, growing closer at an alarming rate. As he neared he began forming his _Bijuu Rasengan_. Just as he was about to thrust it forward, _Susano'o's_ appearance changed, now holding a sword and shield, which it used to block the oncoming orb of destruction.

Sasuke grunted as the force of Naruto's attack forced him back a few feet, realizing that he could not let that particular technique hit. He glanced towards Naruto, watching the blond return to his original appearance before his eyes changed to indicate he had activated his Sennin chakra before summoning several shadow clones, which scattered around Sasuke in pairs.

Naruto stood further back then his clones, waiting patiently for the moment he would activate the Kyuubi's chakra. When he saw Sasuke's _Susano'o_ change appearance again, in an attempt to take him out before he did anything he gave the signal. He knew he was playing with fire, if that chakra arrow connected before he had a chance to turn his body into pure chakra he would be in serious trouble, but he had to get through that damn chakra manifestation. He only had one chance at this since he had to use his last two Sennin clone reserves to power his shadow clones' _Rasenshurikens_.

As soon as _Susasno'o_ transformed, the shadow clones began forming the blue orbs of spinning chakra and wind. Sasuke saw what they were doing and quickly willed his guardian to change back. The clones launched their attacks sending four _Rasenshurikens_ towards Sasuke who just barely had enough time to block three with _Susano'o_ sword and shield, the last one connecting against the manifestation's back, causing some damage but not enough to be cause for concern. Or so he thought.

Naruto had dispelled his clones the moment they threw their attacks and activated his Kyuubi mode, appearing behind the giant chakra being and quickly forming another _Bijuu Rasengan_, thrusting it forward against the spot where his clone's _Rasenshuriken_ had hit. _Susano'o_ roared as it was attacked again, Naruto's _Rasengan_ ripping through and opening a path to the young Uchiha, whose eyes were wide in shock.

"Sasuke!" yelled the blond as he jumped through and punched the raven haired teen out of his guardian, causing the chakra manifestation to disappear.

Sasuke landed and flipped to his feet, trying to regain his composure, but his blond opponent was not going to give him a chance to do so. With a yellow flash Naruto was in front of Sasuke, grabbing him by his throat before slamming him on the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

For a second neither moved, both glaring into each other's eyes, sapphire into coal.

"All she wanted was for us to be a team again, Sasuke, and now that can never happen!" Naruto yelled, his grip on the other teen's neck tightening. "She's gone all because of you and your petty revenge!"

"Don't you dare act like you understand what it feels like to lose everything because some village elders fear your clan! They made Itachi kill his own clan to protect the village and then they labeled him a Ronin! Konoha deserves to burn to the ground for what they did, and if I killed some random Konoha bitch along the wa_—_"

His sentence was interrupted by Naruto's fist.

"Don't you _ever_ insult Sakura-chan! You don't deserve to even _think_ about her after what you did!" Naruto screamed, shaking in anger. "And I met Itachi during the war, he was the one who volunteered for the mission. He said he wanted you to protect Konoha, not try to destroy it!"

Sasuke glared at the blond harder. "Liar."

"It's the truth; why do you think he kept himself alive long enough for you to finally get strong enough to kill him? He wanted to help you get rid of your hatred and live your life in peace as a loyal Konoha Shinobi."

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted as he plunged a two fingered _Chidori_ into Naruto's side, piercing his ribs. "Don't lecture me about things you don't understand, Dobe. Your village didn't even try to settle the situation peacefully, they struck the first blow." he finished by twisting his fingers inside of Naruto's chest, making the blond grunt in pain.

"I'm not going to sit here and argue with you," Naruto said through clenched teeth, "but you're out of chakra so I'm going to take you in to answer for your crimes."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." came Madara's voice as he appeared behind Naruto, his hand turning intangible before he thrust it into the blond's chest. "While I'll congratulate you for managing to almost emerge victorious, you got cocky. You had one chance where you could have fatally wounded me and you didn't because you were too confident." As he talked Madara had grabbed ahold of Naruto's heart and squeezed lightly, making the young Jinchiruuki groan in pain. "I'm debating whether or not I should kill you right now or capture you and extract the Kyuubi."

"If you don't kill me right now you better pray I _never_ get a chance to kill you myself later." Naruto stated, making the man behind him smirk.

"Good point." he said as he began to pierce the blond's heart with his fingers.

What he hadn't noticed was that Naruto had created a clone and mad it activate the Kyuubi's chakra, even though he had been told it would be dangerous to do so. The clone quickly made a _Bijuu Rasengan_ and teleported behind Madara, thrusting it into the unsuspecting man's body. The blond knew it would connect since he could still feel the pressure the man was putting on his heart.

Sure enough, the orb of destruction made contact with Madara, digging into his chest before expanding, the chakra too powerful for the clone to control, sending Naruto and Sasuke flying off the plateau into a small valley. While Naruto just barely survived the fall Sasuke hadn't been so lucky, falling onto a jagged rock protruding from the ground, impaling his stomach.

"Well, that sucked." Naruto said as he rolled over, his body screaming at him in pain and he knew he had some broken bones, though the Kyuubi was already working on healing him. He turned to look at the raven haired teen and couldn't help the tears that welled in his eyes at the realization that he was the last living member of team seven. He tried to hold it in, he really did, but eventually the tears fell as sobs escaped his mouth.

"It's not fair." he cried, staring up at the sky as rain fell from the sky, as if it was just as sad as he was. "No one deserved to die—she shouldn't have died—she shouldn't have even been here." he continued to let the sadness consume him and, in his despair, decided to stop the Kyuubi's chakra from healing him.

**"What the hell do you think you're doing, brat?"** the demon yelled, forcing more chakra out in an attempt to overwhelm his jailer.

Naruto merely smiled sadly, closing his eyes so he could talk with the beast. "I'm tired, Kyuubi, so I've decided to join my team in their eternal rest." he explained, hearing the Kyuubi growl in disapproval.

**"If you think I'm just going let you kill me you're dumber than I thought."** with that it pushed an incredible amount of chakra out of it's seal, the chakra making the ground tremble slightly. **"Naruto, I am not going to let your stupidity in this moment of despair kill me!"**

"What do you care? You'll just come back in a couple of years. I won't ever see my friends again." Naruto was beginning to struggle to keep the Kyuubi's chakra from healing him. "I'll never see Sakura-chan again."

**"Like I care about your problems!"** Kyuubi roared, again increasing the amount of chakra being pushed out, almost doubling it. **"Do you know how much it hurts to die?"**

"I'm about to find out, so let me die." Naruto continued to argue, not noticing that the constant release and suppression of so much chakra was beginning to warp his surroundings, as well as encase his body. The more they argued and increased their attempts to overpower the other, the longer each warp was, reaching the point that Naruto was flitting in and out of existence.

"Damn it, Kyuubi, just leave me alone!" Naruto shouted one last time, pushing the incredible amount of chakra back inside his seal, causing his body to glow one last time before disappearing from the valley.

* * *

><p>When he opened his eyes he felt two distinct things. One was an overwhelming sense of disorientation. His head was spinning and he felt like the world was shaking. The second thing he noticed was that the Kyuubi had apparently given up on it's attempt to heal him, since he could no longer feel it's chakra trying to flood his own chakra system.<p>

When he finally regained control of his balance he stood up only to note that the world really was shaking. Looking up, his body froze in shock as he took in what was happening in front of him. The Kyuubi was loose.

His growing feeling of panic was diminished slightly when he noticed that the giant chakra beast was held in place by familiar looking chains.

_'I know those chains.'_ he thought, following the chains to their source, and sure enough he found it. "Okaa-san?" he uttered, looking at his mother as she struggled to hold back the Kyuubi, shouting something to the man beside her.

"Minato, take Naruto and run, I don't know how much longer I can hold back the Kyuubi!" The blond haired man next to her merely shook his head beginning to go through hand seals and Naruto finally noticed what was happening. His father and mother were about to sacrifice themselves to seal the Kyuubi into the baby on the ground a few feet behind them—who he noted was probably him.

Several questions flooded his minded once; the most important one being how had he gotten to this point of time and why? Having no time to ponder on such seemingly useless things at the moment, he did the first thing he thought of.

His body having gotten used to the Kyuubi's chakra he rushed forward, gathering enough residual chakra from the air to turn into pure energy long enough to surprise his father and knock him out.

"What the—who are you?" Kushina asked, eyes widening in horror as some strange person knocked out her husband. When he turned, his body changed from looking like pure fiery energy to that of a battered and beaten blond haired, blue eyed whiskered teen. _'Wait a sec; whiskered?'_ she thought, stealing a glance at the baby wrapped in a blanket over in the corner. "It can't be..."

"Okaa-san, listen, I don't know how I got here but I think I'm here to save you and Tou-san." Naruto shouted, making Kushina stare at him in shock. "I need you to hold Kyuubi long enough for me to seal him. I saw Tou-san's hand signs but I need to know what comes next." It was obvious his mother was too shocked to respond and he understood why but they were running out of time. "Okaa-san!"

Snapping out of her baffled state of mind, Kushina answered her son. With a nod the handsome, she had to admit in pride, blond teen set to work on summoning the Shinigami and for the first time she realized what he was going to do, panic rising in her chest.

"What are you taking this burden for, it should be me who sacrifices herself to save you!" tears were welling in her eyes as her son stared at her, a sad smile on his face.

"Things don't turn out so good for me—for anyone in the future. Maybe if I can save you and Tou-san things will be different." he answered as the Shinigami's hand entered his soul and exited his body, heading towards the Kyuubi. The flailing Chakra beast cried out as it's soul was pulled out, it's body shrinking drastically. "Crap, I don't know the next part of the sealing ritual!"

**"Hakke no Fūin Shiki!"** Kushina shouted, summoning an altar on which the baby Naruto lay, a seal on the ground. Naruto turned to his mother, his expression clearly thankful, while hers was conflicted in resigning to watch her own son sacrifice himself and wanting to stop him.

As he set himself to get ready to seal the Kyuubi, the chakra beast decided it wasn't going to get sealed again and moved to crush the infant they planned to seal it in. Naruto reacted quickly and moved to intercept the beast's claw, grunting in pain as it ripped through him, still heading towards his younger self. Before it could reach, Kushina jumped in the way, hunching over her infant son, coughing out some blood as she too was impaled.

"Kaa-san, why?" Naruto asked, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he watched a woman he loved die to protect him all over again. His mother looked back at him with a smile on her face, blood staining her chin.

"I've only known you for a few minutes," she began and he knew she was referring to both him and his infant version, "but I can't just sit back and watch you die."

Naruto couldn't help the tears that fell from his face, saddened by the fact that he had failed to save his mother.

"I'm going to seal the Kyuubi, and I'll seal some of your chakra into... myself so that you can help... me control the fox when... I have to learn to control it's chakra. If there's anything you want to say, say it now." he stated, pausing every time he had to refer to his younger self, tears streaming down his face.

His mother merely nodded, gathering what she wanted to say, out of the thousands of things she wished she could say. In the end she glanced behind at the older version of the infant under her as she spoke to her baby.

"Were you a fussy eater?" she asked, receiving a blush from the teenage blond. "Of course you were, what with your dad being the ramen fanatic he is." she commented, chuckling sadly. "Did you take a shower and go to sleep early every day?"

"Maybe." he answered, again making her chuckle.

"Did you manage to make some real, true friends, or at least one?"

He nodded adamantly, grinning. "Yes, I made friends who I could count on." Kushina smiled at that.

"I'm glad. I'm sure you were great at Ninjutsu, and a model student at the academy, right?" her question had a bit of a threatening tone in it, making him grin.

"I'm sorry, I was the class clown, but I am strong enough to be Hokage." he answered, Kushina shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Well you are my son." she felt a warmth in her chest at being able to call him that. "What are the three vices of a Shinobi?" she quizzed him.

"Don't borrow money, save what you earn from missions and no drinking alcohol until you're twenty." he answered, gaining a smile of pride from his mother, something he had never received and which made him feel sadder that he couldn't save her.

"Good." she uttered, before looking him straight in the eyes for her next question. "Did you find a girlfriend? Was she like me?"

Naruto couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Yes, the girl I fell in love with was a lot like you, Okaa-san, maybe that's why I fell in love with her so young, though it took her a while to realize her feelings for me." his mother's expression was heartwarming as she let a cry of happiness out.

Kushina turned to look at the young infant beneath her. "I'm glad you're going to grow up into a fine man who is going to make your mama proud." she said before she leaned down to press a kiss on his whiskered cheek. Then she turned towards her husband lying unconscious on the ground a few feet from her. "Just look at the mighty Yondaime." she chuckled, before staring at him with so much love in her eyes. "I love you and I hope you can forgive me for leaving you behind." she broke out in tears as she finished, letting Naruto know she was done.

The blond nodded, forming a familiar set of seals and praying it would work, otherwise he would be shit out of luck. **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**

With a puff of smoke an orange and black toad appeared, glancing around at being summoned by a foreign chakra. It's eyes landed on the form of the Yondaime lying unconscious on the ground before taking in the sight of the Kyuubi impaling two people, one who he recognized as the Yondaime's wife.

"Kushina-sama!" it yelled about to run forward before the teen behind her called him.

"Gerotora, I'm going to seal the Kyuubi's yin chakra into a seal that I need you to take to Ero-Sennin—I mean Jiraiya-sama." Naruto pleaded, getting a nod from the toad, who was still confused. "I want you to tell him that the Yondaime sent it to him." Again the toad nodded. "Good." He cast one last look at his father and then at his mother before steeling himself. He planned to seal his body along with the yin chakra, so as to get rid of the proof of his meddling. "Seal!"

* * *

><p>Hiruzen stood frozen outside the black barrier that surrounded his successor and his wife as they fought to seal the Kyuubi. He had grown worried when the transparent barrier had turned black, dark enough to block his few of the inside.<p>

_'What are you doing, Minato?'_ thought the aged former Hokage, fearing he knew. There was only one technique that the young Hokage knew that could seal a demon like the Kyuubi and Hiruzen knew Minato wouldn't hesitate to use it to save Konoha and his family.

"Sarutobi-sama, the barrier's disappearing." yelled the Shinobi next to him. As stated, the barrier fell, allowing them to enter.

They walked over to the ceremonial altar of the _Hakke no Fūin Shiki_, inside of which lay the newborn Naruto. Glancing around Hiruzen took in the forms of Minato and Kushina and knew what they had done. They had sacrificed their lives to save the village. Kneeling down, he picked up the infant, cradling him as a tear fell from his eye.

"Your life will be difficult as the new Jinchiruuki of the Kyuubi no Yōko, especially as an orphan." he spoke to the baby in his arms, as if it could understand him. "I'll try to help you be a normal child for as long as I can by passing a law that prohibits talking of what you are." he turned to the ANBU standing behind him. "Please, summon some more ANBU to retrieve the bodies of the Yondaime and his wi—"

"Ow, what the heck hit me?" came a voice from the left, shocking Hiruzen. "Kami-sama, no! Kushina!" Minato shouted as he went over to his wife, cradling her in his arms, tears falling from his eyes. "Kushina, please, you can't be dead. Who's going to raise help me raise, Naruto?" he asked, his voice cracking as he cried. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Naruto!"

"Minato, you're alive." Hiruzen murmured in shock and relief. The blond Hokage looked up at his predecessor and saw the bundle in his arms. Noticing his eyes, the aged man handed the younger man his son.

As soon as Minato had Naruto in his arms he cradled the infant like he was his last reason for living, which wouldn't be far from the truth. The way the man sobbed was uncharacteristic of him but he had so much going through his head at the moment. What had happened? Why couldn't he remember anything? How was he going to raise Naruto without Kushina to help him?

"Minato, come let's head back to the village and get Naruto-kun to the hospital so they can check on him." Hiruzen could practically feel the man's grief as he nodded numbly before touching Kushina's body and teleporting them away.

* * *

><p>"The nurses say Naruto-kun is perfectly healthy." Hiruzen began as he walked into the room that Minato was in, having also undergone a check up for any injuries. The man had complied but he was still walking around defeatedly. Currently he was just looking down at his hands, though he had perked up at the news of his son.<p>

"That's great. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to him." he admitted, twisting the ring on his finger absentmindedly before sighing. "Before you ask, Hiruzen, I don't know how I survived the _Shiki Fūjin_, I honestly don't even remember using it."

The Sandaime sighed, leaning against the wall. "Is there any way it could have been Kushina who used it?" the _Shiki Fūjin_ was a technique that killed the user afterwards, so unless Minato used a different way to seal the Bijuu, the only other possible explanation was that Kushina had been the one to use the forbidden Jutsu.

Minato was quiet for a second, contemplating the suggestion, before he shook his head. "She would have been too weak from holding back the Kyuubi to do anything, not to mention she'd just come out of labor."

With that said the former Hokage was honestly stumped. There was no other way to seal a Bijuu without either extensive planning or a large group of people, each with a huge amount of chakra. Minato'd had neither the time nor the people.

Before either could bring up any other speculations, a white haired man walked into the room, panting.

"Old man, I heard what happened, how's..." his eyes widened as he saw the blond young man sitting in the room, very much alive, "Naruto... Minato, you're alive?"

"Hello, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato greeted. His master looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Gerotora said you'd performed the _Shiki Fūjin_ to seal the Kyuubi, how are you alive?" Jiraiya asked, walking over to his disciple. The young man simply sighed.

"I don't know, I don't remember using the _Shiki Fūjin_ much less summoning Gerotora. All I remember is getting ready to summon the Shinigami and then waking up to find my wife dead." Minato explained, his fists tightening on his lap, squeezing his eyes shut to bold back his tears as he thought of his wife, and of how he would never get to see her smiling face again; never feel her touch or look into her eyes.

Hiruzen and Jiraiya stood watching their young Hokage deal with his emotions, not wanting to disturb him for neither really knew what to say. Hiruzen's wife had been attacked by the man who attacked Kushina but she was alive. Jiraiya decided to just place his hand on the young man's shoulder. Hiruzen however had at least one more question to ask.

"Minato, who was the masked man who attacked Kushina?" the Sandaime asked, not becoming offended that the blond took a while to respond, likely having not fully registered he was asked a question.

"He claimed to be Uchiha Madara, but I honestly don't know." Minato finally answered, looking up at his senior Shinobi. "He used some sort of space/time Jutsu and he could control the Kyuubi so it might be true." the two older men looked worried as they took in the new information.

"Whatever the case this is troubling. Someone wants to destroy Konoha and his ability to control Bijuu makes him a very real threat." Hiruzen stated before shifting his gaze towards his student. "You'll have to put your spy group on full alert, we will need to keep track of this over everything else." he ordered, receiving a nod from the white haired man. He then turned his attention to the other occupant of the room. "Why don't you go spend some time with your son, Minato?"

Minato immediately nodded, heading out of the room before stopping at the doorway, glancing back at his master. "Come, Jiraiya-sensei, meet your godchild." he stated, a small smile on his face as the man nodded and followed him.

They walked over to the nursery and asked one of the nurses to bring them the blond infant. The nurse seemed reluctant at first since the baby in question was still so young but relented at the Hokage's pleading look. As soon as he had his child in his arms again Minato visibly relaxed, placing a kiss on his whiskered cheek, before turning and presenting the infant to Jiraiya.

"He looks just like you." Jiraiya said as he held the baby in his arms, awkwardly. He saw the whisker like birthmarks and wondered if they were an influence of the fox's Chakra. "What's his name?"

Minato thought for a second before answering. "Uzumaki Naruto." he answered, deciding to give him his wife's maiden clan name, both since he had no real clan and to honor her memory. Jiraiya smiled as he felt the boy shift slightly in his arms. Deciding he'd held him enough he returned the baby to his father, again noting that the blond man relaxed as he held the infant.

Several hours later Minato found himself in a private room with his son sleeping in a crib. He was watching the infant sleep, his index finger held snugly by a tiny hand. He had been reflecting on several things and yet he still felt as lost as he had been the second he woke up earlier. The only thing he was sure of was that he would provide his son with anything he would ever need, and support him in whatever he did. He ran his hand gently through the soft golden tuft of hair on his son's head before leaning down and kissing his cheek, whispering an oath.

"I'll protect you with my life, like I should have done with your mother."

* * *

><p><strong>- Six Years Later -<br>**

A young blond boy walked down the street, waving hello to all the people who greeted him. His blue eyes were vibrant enough to make sapphires feel inferior and his sun kissed yellow hair stood out all over the place, much like his father's. He was on his way home from his first day at the academy, still happy with all the friends he had made.

The first one he had made was Kiba, a brown haired boy who had been upset with having to sit still all day. He had met him simply because they sat next to each other. They were very similar, they both wanted nothing more than to go outside and play all day.

His next friend he had also met because he sat next to him. Shikamaru was very lazy and just sat hunched over with his head resting on his crossed arms on the table. Still, Naruto had liked the way he could catch hi, anytime he tried to move to draw on the other boy's face when the blond thought that he was asleep. He vowed to get him eventually.

His last friend he had made that day was Chouji, Shikamaru's friend who Naruto only got to play with during lunch outside, since the boy sat on the other side of Shikamaru, across the gap of their tables. He envied all the snacks Chouji had brought and was thankful when the boy had agreed to give him a cookie, though with how big it was that was more than enough.

There were other people Naruto hoped he could make friends with soon, like the shy kid that sat in front of him, Sasuke. He felt that he could be good friends with him and had wanted to play with him but the raven haired boy had decided to stay inside and read a book on kunai.

He continued to walk before he heard a high pitched voice behind him, calling him.

"Naruto-kun, wait up!" yelled the voice of his friend, Sakura. He had been ecstatic when he had noticed she was in his class, but hadn't really bothered her as he saw she wanted to make friends with some of the girls, and he was trying to play with some of his new friends, knowing he could play with Sakura after school. Though he had forgotten in his excitement to get home and tell his father of all his new friends.

"Uh-oh, she's probably mad that I didn't wait for her." Naruto said to himself, and sure enough, Sakura was heading towards him with a look of agitation in her eyes.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" she asked as she neared and Naruto flinched, thinking she was going to hit him, since it wouldn't be the first time.

"Ahh!" Naruto shouted as he ran down the street, Sakura hot on his tail. "Don't hit me!"

"Stop running, I'm not going to hit you!" Sakura yelled trying to keep up with her best friend. Honestly, he acted as though he didn't deserve it when she hit him, like the time he'd put a worm down her shorts and she'd socked him so hard he'd lost a baby tooth.

Naruto didn't listen to her words, continuing to run all the way to the Hokage tower. The guards said nothing as two blurs of yellow and pink ran past their doors, having gotten too used to the Hokage's son and his friend's antics.

In his office, Minato was just finishing signing a deal to provide protection to the merchants coming from Nami no Kuni when he heard a familiar sound. Soon enough he heard his door burst open along with his son run into the room with his pink haired friend chasing him, both shouting for the other to stop running. He couldn't help but grin when Sakura managed to outsmart Naruto by cutting him off as he ran around the desk. The rosette tackled the young blond to the floor, laughing as she proclaimed her success in catching him.

"Hello, Naruto, Sakura." Minato greeted, grinning when the young girl jumped off his son and stood straight, a blush on her face.

"Hello, Hokage-sama."

"Hi, Tou-san!" Naruto shouted as he ran around the desk to give his father a hug, which the man returned.

"How was the academy?" he asked the two kids, getting a, 'Good,' from his son's friend, while his son went on a much more enthusiastic explanation of his day.

"And then Chouji gave me a cookie that was bigger than a ramen bowl!" Naruto finished, holding his arms out to exaggerate the size of the cookie. Minato smiled as he humored his son.

"Wow, that's big. Did you say thank you?"

Naruto nodded, reaching into his backpack to pull out a wrapped package. "I brought some for you, Tou-san." he said as he held out the now unwrapped giant half cookie.

Minato reached forward to break a piece of for himself before seeing the look on the rosette's face as she stared at the cookie. "Why don't you share the rest with Sakura?" he suggested, making his son turn in surprise.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I forgot you were here. Do you want some?" asked Naruto as he approached the girl, holding out the cookie.

"Oh, no, Okaa-san says I shouldn't have sweets before dinner or it'll ruin my appetite." she tried to reason only to have Naruto shove a portion of the cookie into her hand.

"Come on, Sakura-chan, one cookie won't hurt." he said before sitting next to the girl and munching on what was left of the cookie in his hand. The rosette looked at Minato, expecting him to tell her she shouldn't eat it but he merely smiled, moving his hand across his mouth in a zipping motion.

"Your secret's safe with me." he told her, watching her sigh before looking at the cookie in her hands, staring at it for a second before finally giving in. It was hard not to, Chouza's wife made some of the softest and most delicious cookies around.

Soon enough Sakura had to leave and Minato suggested Naruto take her home, telling him to meet him at Ichiraku's afterwards. The young blond obeyed and left with Sakura.

"So, Naruto-kun, why do you wanna become a Ninja?" Sakura asked as they walked, holding her bag in front of her while Naruto walked with his hands crossed behind his head, eyes squinted shut. One brilliant blue eye opened and glanced over at her, making her blush lightly. It was very pretty.

"I wanna be the next Hokage, like Tou-san." Naruto answered, looking up at the Hokage mountain. "Why? Why do you wanna be a Ninja, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, turning his attention to the girl walking next to him.

Sakura's face reddened at the unwanted close inspection and she looked away, thinking. "I don't really have a reason." she admitted, not being able to think of a suitable answer. She didn't want to say that it was because he was going to be one so she wanted to be one too for fear of him leaving her behind and not playing with her anymore. Naruto however became shocked.

"How can you not know?" he questioned, flailing his arms around animatedly, gaining a giggle from the girl.

"I can't think of anything besides I just wanna be a Ninja." she told him, watching him return to normal beside her.

"That's not good, Sakura-chan, we need to find you a reason to be a Ninja." he muttered to himself, already beginning to think up a million possibilities, most of which involved the girl flying or having some other superpower. Not super strength because that was for boys and Sakura was a girl.

"It's okay, maybe my reason can be to help Naruto-kun become Hokage." she suggested, her eyes widening as she caught what she said. The blush that covered her cheeks only grew when he looked at her with a large smile.

"Really? You'd help me?" he asked, his eyes sparkling as he waited for an answer. Sakura nodded, her own smile growing on her face. "Okay, with Sakura-chan helping me I'll be Hokage in no time!" Naruto declared, pumping his fist up in determination, causing Sakura to giggle.

* * *

><p><strong>- Four months later -<br>**

Time passed and Naruto and his class found themselves outside, about to participate in their first ever sparring session, a lesson in Taijutsu.

Since they had begun the academy Sakura had become friends with a blond girl named Ino, who kept telling her she needed to act more girly if she wanted to be a good Kunoichi. Naruto didn't like Ino since she was starting to make Sakura change into one of those girls who spent time talking about make up instead of practicing her kunai throwing or something else.

Naruto stood inside the ring of the sparring circle their sensei had drawn, facing his opponent, Uchiha Sasuke. Though Naruto felt bad for the fact that someone had killed most of his clan, he didn't like him because Ino was always telling Sakura that if she liked him she would be cool.

_'Just what's so cool about this guy, anyway?'_ thought the blond as he glared at Sasuke, who stood with his hands in his pockets, an angry scowl on his face. _'I'm going to beat him and then I'll be the cool guy.'_ Naruto reasoned, nodding his head in approval of his plan.

"Begin!" yelled their sensei, letting his hand fall to indicate the start of the fight.

Naruto ran forward, using his above average speed for a six year old to catch Sasuke off guard, tackling the raven haired boy to the ground and holding his fist above his face, a few inches away from connecting.

The class stood in awe at the quick win, the boys cheering while some of the girls booed. Naruto looked over towards Sakura and saw her smiling at him, giving him a thumbs up.

"As expected of the Hokage's son." said their sensei, clapping, making Naruto frown. Sure he had become fast because of running from his dad when they played or he was trying to escape punishment but he liked to think he would be fast regardless of whether his dad was Hokage or a carpenter.

"I want a rematch." Sasuke stated as he stood up, glaring at the blond.

"Sasuke, one should learn to lose gracefully." their sensei chastised, shaking his head, about to call the next pair.

"Screw that." he turned towards Naruto and looked him right in the eyes. "Rematch."

Naruto smiled, crossing his arms behind his head. "Fine, I'd be happy to kick your butt again." Sasuke smiled as their sensei sighed and ordered them to get ready.

"Begin!"

Again Naruto sped towards Sasuke but this time the young Uchiha was ready. He spun around and brought his foot up, hitting Naruto in the middle of his face with his heel, effectively knocking the blond out cold as well as breaking his nose. The screams of shock and fright never reached the blond's ears as he wasn't really there to hear them.

* * *

><p>Naruto found himself somewhere strange but at the same time somewhat familiar. He was in a sewer, somewhere he seemed to frequent while he slept, though why he had no idea. His curiosity getting the best of him he began wandering down the passage, following it until he reached a large room, large enough to fit the Hokage tower twice. At the far side of the room there was a large set of bars, with a relatively small piece of paper in the middle of a square that resembled a lock.<p>

He walked in, awed at the size of the room and curious about what was behind the metal bars. Once he was near enough he saw a large mass in the darkness, though he couldn't make out what it was. As dense as people said he was, he knew better than to get closer than he already was once he saw that there was something behind the metal bars.

Suddenly, a giant red eye opened, shifting around frantically before locking on his form, making him gulp. Pretty soon another eye opened and settled on him as well.

**"So, after six years you've come**?**"** spoke a low, gruff voice, sending shivers down Naruto's spine. The blond boy wondered what it meant by that. As if sensing his upcoming question, the voice spoke again. **"Do you even know who I am? What _you_ are?"** Naruto shook his head, making the voice growl in annoyance. **"I, boy, am the mighty Kyuubi no Yōko,"** it paused, as if wanting to see the boy's reaction to the revelation before continuing, **"and you, human, are nothing but my cage."**

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, frightened when a row of large sharp teeth appeared under the pair of eyes.

**"Just what I said, you are my cage, the only thing stopping me from roaming free and destroying your village."**

"So I'm like a hero?" Naruto questioned, feeling a sense of pride, knowing he was capable of stopping the beast that could level mountains with the twitch of a muscle.

**"No. The humans of your pathetic village think of you as nothing more than a human incarnation of myself. They hate you for existing."** Kyuubi stated, making the blond's eyes widen.

"The villagers love Tou-san and me!" Naruto shouted, receiving nothing more than a laugh from the beast.

**"They love your father for saving them, but they hate you, for you walk around with the very being that killed their loved ones. They will never see past their irrational emotions. Even your own father blames you for the death of your mother."**

"Shut up!" shouted Naruto, interrupting the demonic fox. "Tou-san loves me, and he says Kaa-san loved me too. You don't know anything, you've been stuck in a cell for the last six years, don't tell me how my family thinks of me!" with that Naruto turned to leave, ignoring the laugh of the Kyuubi.

**"Don't believe me, but when they decide to finally kill you for what you are, remember that **_**I**_** could've helped.**

* * *

><p>A blinding white light was the first thing to greet him as he woke up, sapphire eyes blinking to get used to the brightness. He tried sitting up but found he couldn't. He also found his throat dry and he noticed his father was sitting in the chair next to his bed, sleeping. He chanced a sweep of the room and found himself in a hospital, the one place he hated more than the dentists office. Deciding he needed to know what had happened to him, Naruto squeezed his dad's hand, which had been on the bed near his.<p>

"Tou-san, wake up."

With a groan his father woke up, rubbing his eye before looking down at him, his eyes widening in relief.

"Naruto. Oh, thank Kami-sama you're awake." Minato said, bending forward to hug his son. "I was so worried, I don't know what I'd do without you," his words made Naruto smile and he decided to forget his weird dream, "I already lost your mom, I can't lose you as well."

Any other day Naruto wouldn't have been bothered by his father's sentence, but the weird dream came back to the front of his mind again. It made him wonder if his father would be anywhere near as worried if his mom was still alive.

Shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts, he turned to his father. "Tou-san, what happened? Why am I in the hospital?" he tried to scrunch his nose at the word hospital but found he couldn't. Glancing down he saw his nose was covered in a white cast. He looked at his father in confusion.

"You got hurt sparring, the doctors say you'll be alright but you broke your nose. You've been out for three days, son." Minato explained, the memories coming back to Naruto.

The spar, his victory, Sasuke's rematch challenge and then the last thing he remembered was a heel heading towards him. Before he could ask anything else, a familiar voice called him from his right.

"Naruto-kun!" yelled Sakura as she ran into the room, hugging him as soon as she was close enough. At the doorway Naruto saw Sakura's mom, a woman he almost never saw. Again, any other day he would not have taken notice, but as it were he couldn't ignore the look she was giving him, seeming agitated that she had to bring her daughter to the hospital just to see _him_. When Sakura spoke she brought him out of his thoughts. "Everyone misses you at the academy; they can't wait for you to come back."

Naruto merely smiled, touched by his friends' feelings. A few minutes passed, during which Sakura had left and Naruto had grown agitated at an itch that had decided to spring up on his cast-covered nose. "Tou-San, my nose itches!" he whined, only gaining a grin of amusement from his father.

"Be patient, Naruto, the doctor's on his way to change your bandages." Minato explained, watching as his son tried to find an opening in the cast to scratch his itch for the umpteenth time.

Soon enough, though to Naruto it felt like forever, the doctor arrived, apologizing for the wait before beginning to remove the cast on Naruto's nose.

"How long will it take for his nose to heal, doc?" Minato asked, curious as to how long his son would look like he wore a light bulb on his face.

"It will take a while, the damage was pretty severe and it will leave a sca—" the doctor stopped mid sentence as he stared at Naruto's nose, which appeared perfectly fine, not even a scar being left behind. "I've never seen anything like that." he murmured, turning the boy's face to look at him from different angles. "Remarkable. Truly remarkable."

"What happened?" Naruto asked, his voice coming out nasally due to the doctor pinching his nostrils. Somewhere in the back of his mind be knew he should be in some severe pain from what the doctor was doing to his broken nose.

"Your nose has already healed." the doctor stated, glancing at the Hokage. "Did you have a medical Ninja come and fix his nose while I was gone?" at the Blond man's shake of his head he proceeded to fill out something on his notepad.

"Does this mean I can go home?"

* * *

><p>It had already been three weeks since Naruto had woken up in the hospital from his mishap during his first sparring session, and while for the most part he continued on with his life as though nothing had changed, he couldn't help but pay close attention to how everyone looked at him, or whispered as he walked by, or the tone of voice in which they talked to him.<p>

Over half the people he saw would force themselves to smile at him and ask how he was doing in a false happy voice. Another good portion of people would look at him in either agitation or sorrow in their eyes, though most tried to hid sit behind a smile. Some people, though this group was few in number, would look at him in downright hatred, while another group of about the same number genuinely adored him, like his father and the owner of Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.

When the new teacher joined the academy, Naruto quickly noted that the man fit under the group that looked at him in either annoyance or sadness, and that the man tended to be harsher on him than the other students. When another new teacher joined, Naruto noted that the silver haired man was under the group that downright hated him, but hid it behind a mask of kindness.

* * *

><p><strong>"Back again, brat?"<strong> he Kyuubi asked, noting that the blond had returned yet again. He had been coming frequently for about a month already, often just standing there, staring, for a few minutes before leaving, and sometimes staying for longer. He was beginning to grow tired of feeling the boy's eyes on him while he slept. **"If you want to say something, say it. Otherwise stop disturbing me."  
><strong>  
>"How can you help?"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

* * *

><p>Author's Note: So there's the rewrite of Just Following Orders, I hope you guys find it interesting. It took me a while to think up the new plot and even longer to actually write it down but I did it.<p>

Some Notes;

I had Kushina activate the eight trigrams seal because I figured she as an Uzumaki would know about seals like that.

... That's it actually, but if anyone raises any concerns I'll address it in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Well if this chapter is up it must mean people liked the first chapter, which was more or less a prologue. It served the purpose of setting the stage, so to speak. I hope that this chapter will kick things off._

_**Disclaimer: Naruto and Co. are the exclusive property of Masashi Kishimoto.**  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Rise of the Uzumaki: Fall of Konoha<strong>

_Chapter Two: The Academy Graduation Exam_

* * *

><p>Naruto didn't like his current situation. It was dangerous, that much he knew, but it was necessary. He knew he would die if he was caught, but if he didn't finish his current task he would be punished so badly he'd wish he was dead. He chanced a quick glance around his cover and pulled his head back before he was seen.<p>

_'Okay, looks like I haven't been noticed, yet.'_ he thought, hands trembling in apprehension. Reaching into his kunai holster, he pulled his equipment out and steeled himself to finish his objective. _'Calm down, you can do this.'_

He began a mental countdown. _Five._ He made sure his target didn't suspect anything. _Four._ He calculated the distance to his target and did the guess work in his mind for how much strength he would need to use, also taking into account all the variables such as wind speed and direction. _Three._ He made sure there were no witnesses able to see him; for if there were, even if he was successful in his task he'd be punished severely. _Two._ He reviewed his escape plan, making sure he would be able to leave safely. _One!_ He leaned out of cover and threw the item in his hand, the object flying perfectly toward its intended target.

Upon impact, it went into a series of explosions, startling the target, who yelped and flailed around in his position, trying to find the cause of the commotion. In his panic, the man failed to notice the numerous pairs of eyes that had settled upon his form, or the shrieks that followed. He did however feel the killing intent directed at him. As if sensing his life was in danger the man slowly turned, his eyes closed as a smile inched onto his face.

"Hello, ladies." he said optimistically, as if doing so would prevent the punishment that he was sure to receive. The women bellow him were not as optimistic.

"Hentai!" yelled a towel clad pink haired girl before she threw a bucket at the white haired man hiding in the tree branch above the public bath.

From his position outside the public bath's entrance, Naruto grinned. "Mission success."

* * *

><p>"That was very cruel of you, Naruto." muttered the white haired elderly man as he walked beside the blond, his cheek swollen from where Sakura had punched him. The blond teen shrugged, his arms crossed behind his head.<p>

"I told you a million times not to peep on Sakura-chan, Ero-Jijii." Naruto replied, ignoring the calls of some of the store vendors trying to sell him things.

"It's not as if I went in to peek on her specifically, she just happened to show up." Jiraiya defended himself honestly for once. It was mere coincidence that the rosette had showed up, but Jiraiya wasn't going to cut his research short just because his godson's friend had showed up. Especially once he saw her in nothing but a towel. "She has quite the ass, though, if I do say so myself."

Not amused, Naruto glared at his godfather, though his blush diminished its effect greatly. The man chuckled at the blond's reaction.

"Why so defensive, anyways? She's not your girlfriend. In fact, if I remember you guys aren't even all that close anymore." judging by the way Naruto turned away, Jiraiya figured he had struck a chord.

It was true though. Naruto and Sakura had had somewhat of a fall out almost a year ago. She wanted to spend her time pampering herself with Ino and he had begun training more seriously, seeing as their last two years in the academy had become much more combat oriented, and the last half year had been spent completing E-rank missions to build experience in dealing with customers. He still remembered the fight they'd had before they stopped being friends.

* * *

><p><strong>- Eight Months Ago –<strong>

_Naruto sat in the public training ground behind the Hokage Monument. He was resting under a tree after his latest training session, his bare chest heaving as he panted, and his blond hair clinging to his face due to his sweat. He had been practicing a new technique and had thus far been unsuccessful._

'Why is this so goddamn difficult? I learned the _Kage Bunshin_ in less than an hour so why can't I perform the _Shuriken Kage Bunshin_?'_ he pondered, running his hand through his hair in aggravation. His father had told him that making shadow clones of non-living objects was difficult, but he had declared he would learn it as easily as he had learned the Kage Bunshin. _'I suppose I learned that so fast because the main obstacle most face when learning it is the need for enough Chakra to supply them with.' _he figured, expelling Chakra out of the palm of his hand like it was nothing._

_Had someone seen him, they would have complimented him on having such remarkable control of his Chakra, even though that was not the case. His chakra control was lousy, by his master's standards. The only reason he was able to accomplish the feat was because he had so much abundant Chakra. Thus it was not unexpected when his very first Shadow Clone came out perfect._

_The _Shuriken Kage Bunshin_, however, required much more precise Chakra control in order to prompt the inanimate object to replicate itself using his Chakra. Too little and nothing would happen, too much and the shuriken would simply morph, as if it wanted to replicate but was stuck together, sometimes resulting in multi-pronged shuriken._

'Shuriken that I have no idea how to revert back to normal.'_ he thought bitterly as he leaned backwards in defeat. "Stupid academy, making us pick a Chakra control exercise."_

_In truth, no one was making him learn the technique; he had been the one to pick this particular Jutsu to help him refine his control, figuring that the increased difficulty would allow him to reap better results. Most of his classmates had opted to learn tree climbing while others were learning wire control or other forms of Chakra control. He had refused to learn any of those, instead proclaiming he would learn something much more difficult. The instructors knew better than to try to talk him into following the curriculum by now so they allowed him to do as he pleased. In the end he always managed to keep his word, though it appeared he might not this time._

_"The deadline's in three days and I still haven't even executed this technique once!" Sapphire eyes stared at the tree that provided him shade, tempted to ask his master for help but refusing to look week. With an aggravated sigh, he sat up, ready to continue his training when he heard someone call him from his right._

_"Naruto-kun!" he heard Sakura's voice, the kunoichi in question standing a couple of meters away. "Are you busy training?"_

_Naruto shook his head, his blond hair shaking slightly as he did so, and he motioned her over. The rosette complied after gaining permission, having grown weary of approaching him suddenly as he was often training with his Shadow Clones and they typically used her to get him to surrender, sometimes by taking her captive, much to her irritation._

_"What's up, Sakura-chan?" he asked when she was close enough. The girl blushed slightly as she took in his appearance before regaining her composure._

_"Nothing much. I'm just bored since everyone's still practicing their Chakra control exercises." she shrugged, leaning against the tree he was under. "Just came to see if you wanted to hang out."_

_Naruto glanced at the girl quickly—noting in the back of his mind how much she had grown in the last eight years since they began the academy at the age of six—reminded that she had chosen to learn the tree climbing exercise and had mastered it within an hour. Sakura, unlike Naruto, had perfect Chakra control, sometimes revered by their sensei as the model of a perfect student for her intelligence and ability to grasp the knack for any of the Jutsu they had taught throughout their years at the academy. Her only drawback was that she seemed to have trouble building her chakra reserves._

'Probably because she spends her time worrying about her looks when she should be training.'_ Naruto thought, though he didn't dare voice his opinion. "So what have you been doing this whole week?" he asked instead._

_Sakura cast him a quick look before sighing. "Nothing really, just running errands for Okaa-san, mostly." she responded, sighing. "What about you, still working on how you're going to upstage Sasuke-kun?" her question made him grin._

_After his master had taken him under his wing, he had instructed Naruto to stay out of the spotlight at all costs; don't excel but don't be a failure, for that could bring him just as much unwanted attention. Just be another run of the mill ninja. At first, Naruto had tried to follow his order, but that began to become more and more difficult when Sasuke-or Teme-had begun to taunt Naruto with his successes, baiting him to try to surpass him._

_The blond could only take so much and in the end he finally caved in. Afterwards, whatever Sasuke would do, Naruto would make sure to outshine him. If Sasuke would complete an obstacle course in four minutes, Naruto would complete it in three minutes and fifty-nine seconds, something that irritated Sasuke immensely, especially when Naruto would finish earlier and would wait just short of the finish line until a second before Sasuke's time._

_Eventually they got to where they were now, with the raven-haired teen opting for the most difficult lessons the academy provided while Naruto would substitute his own._

_"What makes you say that, Sakura-chan?" he asked, receiving a look from the girl that said, 'Do you really want me to answer?' making him chuckle. "Alright, yes, I'm trying to learn something that will blow Sasuke's water walking out of the water." he had to dodge the rosette's slap that she aimed for the back of his head._

_"You are so corny, Naruto-kun." she said between her giggles. Then she ran her hand through his hair when he returned to his sitting position, gaining a hum of appreciation from the blond. She had found out when they were eleven that he went into a sort of trance when she massaged his scalp and often used it to get her best friend to relax. "Why don't we go hang out for a while, Naruto-kun?" she asked after a while._

_Naruto reluctantly and with much effort grabbed her hand and pried it out of his hair. "Sorry, Sakura-chan, but I really need to perfect this Jutsu." he replied, watching her frown. "Maybe after I'm done."_

_"Come on, Naruto-kun, you're always training." Sakura whined as he stood up, blushing as she noticed the way his toned muscles moved under his skin._

_"Yeah, well, at least one of us does." he muttered, not realizing he'd said that aloud, missing the look she shot at him, a mix of anger and confusion._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Sakura, making him blink in confusion at the change in her tone of voice and atmosphere._

_"What?"_

_"You just said, 'At least one if us does.' Are you insinuating that I don't train?" she asked, clearly frustrated. The blond merely blinked a few more times before realization flashed in his, still brilliant, sapphire eyes._

_"Just ignore what I said, Sakura-chan, you know I don't know what I'm talking about half the time." he tried to convince her to drop it, hoping to avoid a spat with his best friend._

_"No, Naruto-kun, if you have something to say to me, say it." by now she was glaring daggers at him, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward slightly, not noticing she was giving him a marvelous view down the front of her shirt, which she usually left zipped up to just slightly over the middle of her small but still moderately sized bust._

_"It's nothing, Sakura-chan, just, _please_, drop it." he responded, trying to keep serious even though he'd normally already be teasing her, trying to get a playful grope while shouting, 'Sakura-chan has boobs!'_

_"It's obviously something, otherwise you wouldn't have said anything." it was clear that she was not going to drop his slip of the tongue. "Spit it out, Naruto." the fact that she dropped the ever present '-Kun' meant that she was serious, similar to when he referred to her without the '-Chan.'  
><em>

_Letting out a sigh, Naruto gave in. "Fine, you wanna know what I mean?" Sakura nodded, still glaring at him. "I just think it wouldn't kill you to put more effort into training instead of pampering yourself so that Teme will notice you, or hanging out doing nothing all the time."_

_"Well excuse me for wanting to spend time with my best friend doing things normal teenagers do, like watch movies, or try new food, or go out on da_—_"_

_"That's the thing, though, Sakura-chan," Naruto interrupted her, much to her silent appreciation, "we aren't normal teenagers. We're _Shinobi_. We gave up the luxury of doing those things when we decided to _become_ Shinobi. Sometimes I wonder if you understand that." There, it was out. Whatever happened now wasn't his fault._

_When the explosion of anger he had been expecting didn't come, he chanced a glance at the rosette, taking in her trembling fist clenched tightly at her side and the way her head was tilted downwards. So maybe the explosion was only being delayed._

_"Sakura-cha—"_

**SLAP!**

_A stinging sensation on his cheek confirmed to the blond what had just happened. Sakura had slapped him. He glanced down at the rosette to see tears streaming down her face, while still glaring at him._

_"How dare you." she spoke, surprising him with how hurt she sounded. "I put my all into my training. So I like to take care of myself; excuse me for thinking that _someone_ might compliment me for once!" her shoulders were beginning to shake but she didn't let that affect her anger. "Maybe inside that thick skull of yours you've convinced yourself that we need to stop being human to be good Shinobi but I refuse to do so."_

_Naruto said nothing as she turned and walked away, not able to hear the debate happening inside his mind._

_**"Let her go, brat."** the Kyuubi said, watching through Naruto's eyes as the rosette walked, noting she was walking slightly slower than one would, obviously hoping the blond would catch her and apologize._

_Naruto gritted his teeth, conflicted between listening to his master's order and wanting to catch Sakura. _'But I have to make things right with Sakura-chan.'

**_"No. For years now she has been a hindrance on your progress."_**

'But, Kyuubi-sama, Sakura-chan_—_'

**_"I said no, Naruto. Now continue your training."_**

_With a final sigh, Naruto obeyed, resuming his training, ignoring the odd sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach._

_After that, they had all but stopped talking; only talking when it was unavoidable. People noticed but most didn't ask, figuring that friends as close as them would settle things quickly. They hadn't._

_Naruto didn't care about whether or not she considered him a friend or not, he continued to keep a silent eye on her with his shadow clones, as he always had, much to his master's annoyance._

* * *

><p>"So, why did you interrupt my research?" Jiraiya questioned, watching his godson. "It couldn't be just because of that girl, right?"<p>

"While I would have stopped you regardless, I came to tell you that Tou-san wants to talk to you. Something about having a quick meeting while you're in town. I don't really know." the blond waved his hand in a manner that meant it didn't concern him before he began walking off towards the academy.

The aged Sennin, wondering what his student might want to talk about, was about to jump on a rooftop when he glanced at the blond.

"Naruto," he called, getting the young teen to stop and look at him, "in case I don't see you tomorrow, good luck on your graduation exam."

The blond smiled slightly. "Arigatou, Ero-Jijii." With that, Jiraiya jumped off, leaving Naruto alone.

He continued on his path towards the academy, wanting to submit his latest mission report, though in reality he thought they were more like chores. He knew they weren't real missions, and that they served the purpose of allowing the Genin hopefuls a chance to get used to the manual labor involved with being Shinobi, and to make sure they could hold their cool against particularly nasty clients. He was relatively lucky, being the Hokage's son everyone treated him respectfully, but he had heard Shikamaru mumbling about troublesome women he had been assigned to. Though seeing as the brown haired teen thought everything was troublesome, he didn't know whether or not to believe him.

"I wonder how Sakura-chan's doing?" he thought aloud, stopping at the swing in front of the academy that he and Sakura use to play on as children. They had planned to complete these missions together, but that hadn't turned out as planned.

**"You need to stop worrying about that female and focus on perfecting your Fūton Jutsu."** the Kyuubi ordered, attempting to keep him from thinking too much about the pink haired girl. She was pretty much his only and largest weakness.

_'Alright.'_ the blond responded, continuing his trek to submit his so called report. It was really just a signed piece of paper with a rating chart, which the client filled out. _'We would already be Genin, if I wasn't for Tou-san extending the academy curriculum.'_ he thought tiredly.

It used to be that at twelve they would be given a simple exam, and if they passed they would be thrown out into the world as Genin. His father had changed that, and Naruto couldn't help but think it was because he was going to become a Shinobi. Five years ago, his father had ordered that all academy students would receive an extra two and a half years of training, two years of which would be used to teach them extra low level Jutsu and perfect their Taijutsu. During the last six months, it would be up to them to them to complete E-rank missions. They could also approach almost any Jōnin for private lessons, where, depending on the Jōnin, they might be able to learn stronger Ninjutsu.

Today was the last day for them to complete and submit any last E-rank missions, which, along with their sparring records and their upcoming final exam, would help determine their rank amongst their fellow Genin. Namely, who would be the Rookie of the Year.

Thus far, Naruto held the lead in regard to completed missions, having completed three hundred sixty-two missions, soon to be sixty-five. His shadow clones helped him complete most missions quickly, giving him a completely unfair advantage, as Kiba put it.

The closest person to him was Sasuke, with ninety-two missions completed. Then came Aburame Shino, with seventy-nine. Kiba was in sixth, with seventy-two, followed by Sakura in seventh and Yamanaka Ino in twelfth, with sixty-five and sixty-one, respectively. Chouji was in fifteenth place with forty-nine and The Hyuuga heiress, Hinata, came in twenty-first having completed forty. Shikamaru held last place with three completed missions. Not that the young Nara cared, he was the smartest one of their age group and held fourth place in number of wins in ranked spars.

Naruto took his eyes of off the chart that listed their ranks, continuing down the hall until he reached the moderately sized indoor gymnasium where the instructors where waiting for any last minute submissions. Also in the room were a few of his classmates, waiting to hand in their last mission slips before the cut off time.

After a few minutes of waiting in line, Naruto reached the front. "Hello, Naruto." greeted his instructor, Umino Iruka. "Handing in more mission reports?" he asked, accepting the papers Naruto handed him. "I would have thought that with the enormous lead you have you wouldn't have felt the need to complete more."

Naruto shrugged, glancing around the room. "It's a good way to pass some time, y'know?" his teacher nodded, updating his overall rating, changing it from a four point two to a four point three out of five. "Besides, one can never complete enough missions."

"I just wish you'd have shown this much enthusiasm about submitting your homework assignments a few years ago." Iruka chuckled, gaining a pout from the blond teen before him. "I must say, you've set a rather high record for most E-rank missions completed that I doubt anyone will beat any time soon." the instructor did not miss the grin that formed on the boy's face, clearly proud of his accomplishment.

Iruka felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as well. While he had initially had mixed feelings about how he felt towards the Hokage's son due to what was sealed inside of him, he had learned to judge the boy for whom he was and not what he was. It wouldn't be fair to hold a grudge on the blond for keeping the creature that had killed his parents at bay, ensuring that it couldn't run rampant, even if only temporarily.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, will tomorrow's exam have a written portion?" Naruto questioned, hoping that there wouldn't be as that was the only area that he was never adept at. The brown haired teacher couldn't help his grin at the boy's question.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, you know we aren't allowed to tell you that." Iruka responded, filing away the papers the blond had given him, the folder he put them in being the thickest in the box. "I'm sure you'll do fine, though. As it stands you're a shoo in for rookie of the year." the way the man whispered the last part Naruto figured it was supposed to be a secret.

Offering him one last grin, Naruto bid Iruka farewell and left the Academy, pausing slightly as he saw a flash of pink walking near the markets but continuing at his master's command.

* * *

><p>"Thank you, Kaname-san." Sakura spoke as she exited the produce stand, the vegetables her mother had sent her out for in the bag in her hands. Though her mother had told her she needed the items quickly, Sakura found herself walking back in a leisurely pace.<p>

_'Tomorrow's the graduation exam... I wonder how I'll do._' she wondered, catching sight of two kids playing in the park to her left.

"How dare you put a beetle in my hair, Daichi-kun!" a young girl shouted, chasing the boy, Daichi.

"I don't know, please stop chasing me! I'm sorry!" the boy shouted back, running for his life, and for a moment the two kids running around changed, the boy's hair turning blond while the girl's turned pink.

_"Ah! Sakura-chan, I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!"_ a young Naruto yelled, running for his life, not having learned his lesson the first time.

_"You put a worm down my shorts, again!"_ Little Sakura yelled, chasing after the blond, a fire burning in her eyes. _"You better hope I don't catch you, Naruto-kun!"_

However, just like the girl running around in the playground, Sakura had caught Naruto, like she always did, and tackled him to the floor, grabbing something_—_typically dirt or mud, anything really_—_and shoving it in the boys face as payback.

_'I wonder if Naruto-kun's nervous about tomorrow's exam?_' her eyes widened at the thought, surprised yet not surprised, that it would enter her mind. She was surprised because she had not had a thought on the blond in well over two months, when she accepted that he must not value their friendship as must as she had if he had not tried even once to talk to her since their argument. Yet she was not surprised because he had been her best friend for so long, she supposed he would always be on her mind, in one way or another.

With a sigh Sakura continued to her house, vaguely aware about an all too familiar Chakra signature that had stopped for a second as she walked home before continuing, making her bite her lip to distract herself from the ache in her chest.

"I'm back, Okaa-san." Sakura announced as she walked into her house, hearing her mother shuffling in the kitchen.

"It's about time." the elder Haruno woman replied teasingly, getting up from her chair to begin preparing the meal. When she went to take the bag from her daughter, however, she noticed something. "Sakura, are you okay?" The rosette stared at her mother curiously, wondering why she would ask that when the woman elaborated. "You look like you were crying."

Utterly perplexed, the young kunoichi moved towards the mirror in the hallway to see what her mother was talking about. Sure enough, her eyes were slightly red and the edges of her eyes held the traces of dried tears. Baffled, she licked her hand before moving to clean her face.

_'I don't even remember feeling tears in my eyes.'_ was the last thought that passed through her mind as she went to help her mother finish preparing dinner, not missing the worried look she was casting her way.

* * *

><p>Panting, Naruto stood hunched over, a triumphant smile on his face. He had finally done it. He had finally managed to execute the <em>Kaze no Yaiba<em> well enough that the tree he had been practicing on had split in two.

_'That only took me two weeks longer than the _Kyōryokuna Kaze_.'_ he thought sarcastically, running his hand through his hair out of habit. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he missed the delicate slim fingers that used to massage his scalp, for no other reason than to offer him a few minutes of euphoric bliss and relaxation.

Sighing, the blond glanced at the night sky, noting the way the sensor dome flickered as someone's shift ended and another's began. That meant it was nearing eight o'clock and he was expected back home. Collecting his things, he jumped away, thinking of his master and how he had helped him. Mostly.

While the Kyūbi had been able to teach him how to direct its chakra to heal himself and to add it to his Jutsu to give them a power up, that had pretty much been the extent of what it could properly teach him. being a Chakra beast, it had no use for Jutsu. It shared with him the Jutsu that had been used against it and mentally showed him the hand signs required to perform them as well as what they should look like.

It was a crappy way of teaching, but Naruto could not argue with the result, the fact that he had learned several powerful Jutsu. In fact, it was actually the only manner that he could learn anything. He'd had extreme difficulty learning the basic _Bunshin_, but had no trouble learning the _Kage Bunshin_ that the Sandaime had showed him.

For some reason if someone actually explained how to perform a technique step by step, he'd pretty much lose interest and then try to execute it just as described, trying to sense everything in the way he was instructed and would ultimately fail. However, if he was told nothing more than the hand signs needed and what the result would look like he could invest himself completely into learning the Jutsu and would not stop until he did.

Arriving at his front door, he walked in, announcing he was home before heading to gather his clothes so as to take a quick shower. Forty minutes later found Naruto meditating in his backyard, something his father had taught him to allow him to clear his mind of any unnecessary events of the day, so as to be able to remember more clearly the important things.

Although he had also found another use for it. He could clear his mind and actually talk to the Kyūbi, face to face, anytime he wanted instead of only whenever it wanted.

_"So when am I gonna be able to use your chakra fully?"_ Naruto spoke inside of his mind, standing in front of the bars that held his mentor prisoner. Despite the fact that his master hated when Naruto lacked respect when speaking, because of Naruto's meditation, he was unable to lash out and punish him at the moment.

**"We will have to wait until they formally begin your Jinchirūki training."** the Kyūbi replied, ignoring the whine that came from its tenant. **"If we start too soon they might think the seal is weakening and try to strengthen it. That may sever our link entirely."  
><strong>  
>Naruto huffed, wondering why his father went to great lengths to keep him under someone's watch or anothers. He had been made to remain in the academy for almost three more years than used to be the norm, likely to gauge whether or not he would be pressed to use the Kyuubi's Chakra under some of the more difficult spars he had been in, or so his master guessed. His godfather also made sure to keep a watchful eye on him, often taking him to hot springs to relax, but the way he often keep an eye on the seal on the blond's stomach made his intentions painfully obvious.<p>

**"On a more important note**;" the Kyuubi started, bringing Naruto's attention back to it, **"Why have you been having so much difficulty learning new Jutsu lately? I'm beginning to think you're just a failure who has gotten lucky up to this point."  
><strong>  
>Gritting his teeth, Naruto held back his retort, knowing he would be reprimanded. Although he wasn't completely certain, he had a guess as to why his progress was suffering. In his mind, his master was completely wrong to say Sakura held him back. In his opinion, she was part of the reason he could learn techniques so fast. He would always try his hardest so he could show her his newly mastered Jutsu, indulging in the way her eyes lit up when she saw it and feeling a sense of accomplishment when she would praise him.<p>

But instead of voicing his opinion, he simply shrugged**. **_"Maybe I just need a bigger challenge?"_ replied the blond, hearing his master's sigh before turning to leave. _"Either way, I'm going to go to bed, wouldn't want to sleep through my exam tomorrow."  
><em>  
>Walking inside, Naruto almost bumped into his father, who was reading a document, probably from work.<p>

"Finished meditating, Naruto?" Minato asked, glancing up from the papers in his hands to flash his son a quick smile. The younger blond nodded, scratching his side as he yawned. "Make sure you sleep well tonight. Wouldn't want to fail tomorrow's exam because of sleepiness."

"Careful, Tou-san. After I become a Genin tomorrow, I'm gonna make a beeline towards the position of Hokage." Naruto declared, making his father grin before putting a hand on his head and ruffling his hair.

"I'm sure you will, son." Minato paused as he considered how to voice his next statement. "Your mother would be very proud of you, Naruto, just like I am." he patted his son's head one more time before he continued to his study, leaving the teen standing in the hall.

The emotion that flashed in the blond's sapphire eyes was something he hardly ever felt. The feeling of true acceptance and appreciation. It always made him freeze, reminding him that not everyone masked their resentment of him because not everyone harbored such feelings, as opposed to what his master often told him.

Although the number that did see him as the reason for the loss of their loved ones far outnumbered the ones who didn't, it made him question just how much of what his master—or anyone for that matter—told him was true.

* * *

><p>The day of the Academy Graduation Exam, the Genin hopefuls were told to report to their classrooms for a final meeting with their instructors. Dozens of teens walked through the building for what would probably be the last time, reminiscing about the last couple years they had spent training for the exam they were about to take. Some were nervous, some were apprehensive, while others were confident enough of their skills to remain calm.<p>

It was rather simple for Iruka to tell who was nervous and who was not as he walked into the classroom, staring at the faces if his students for what would likely be the last time.

"Ohaiyo gozaimasu, Iruka-sensei." the teens chorused, making the brown haired instructor smile as the crowd in front of him flickered for a second, changing back to the six year olds he'd met so many years ago.

"Ohaiyo. Are you guys ready to proceed into the world of Shinobi?" his response was a mixed reply, with even some of the kids who replied affirmatively sounding unconvincing. "Come on, kids, there's no reason to be nervous. I have complete faith that all of you are more than capable of passing this test with flying colors." Iruka's words were having the desired effect as most of the kids become much more confident than they were before. "Now, I'll ask again; are you ready to become Shinobi?"

"Hai!" the group of teens yelled in harmony, bringing a smile to their Instructors face.

"Then the next time we meet, I will be greeting you all as fellow Shinobi." he said as their first exam instructor entered. "I leave them to you, Saruyama-san." Iruka left, waving his students goodbye.

"The first part of your exam will be conducted in solitude." Saryama began, standing straight as his eyes swept the room, gauging them. "Each of you will be lead to a room to be given an oral exam. If I call your name, you are to follow me. Aburame Shino. Adaichi Yoihime. Fuujaku Tsumi. Habatsu Fuu. Haruno Sakura. Minami Renka. Orihara Ginta. Tomisuke Nobi. Ukitake Amy. Yamanaka Ino."

The selected teens rose and followed the man out, who left after telling them that they would be called out individually to take their exam.

One by one the students were called, led away by different Chūnin each time. They were led to individual rooms, inside of which they were told that they would be asked about anything and everything that they had learned in the academy. They were given freedom to answer however they wanted.

Naruto quickly figured out that they were being tested in an interrogative setting, likely trying to see if the Genin hopefuls were able to answer the questions without revealing anything that would give an outsider too much information. After twenty minutes he was allowed to leave with orders to head towards the obstacle field behind the academy.

* * *

><p>"Alright. You are all here because you have been training to be medical ninja for the last five years. You're first portion of the Graduation Exam will differ from your peers." the man standing in front of the group of young Med-Nins proceeded to motion for them to lift the veils off of the objects in front of each of them, revealing rabbits. "Each of you will be required to heal your squad mates at anytime, sometimes without knowing what's afflicting them. Your goal is to identify what is causing your specific rabbit's slow but sure death, and prevent it. If you can succeed you will continue onto the next portion of the exam. However if you fail, you will be disqualified and sent home."<p>

"How come we fail instantly if we don't pass the first part while everyone else is judged on overall score?" Amy demanded, frustration clearly on her face at the possibility that she might be declined the chance to become a Shinobi simply because she failed one part of her exam.

The proctor turned his gaze on the girl, his hazel eyes cold and unfeeling; a model example of how an accomplished Shinobi's eyes should appear. "As Med-Nins it is our job to save our comrades lives on a daily basis. If you can't even save a rabbit, which has been given a minor injury that was made painfully obvious for the sake of this exam, you don't deserve to have the lives of your peers entrusted to your care."

Any further comments were effectively dismissed as the teens received a glimpse at what they would be facing when they passed.

"By the way, each rabbit has a different injury, which should kill it in about forty minutes." the man moved to sit in his desk, turning to look over his shoulder as he spoke again. "And the exam began the moment you removed the cloth covering them, removing the stasis seal placed on them. I'd say you have just over half an hour."

With his final words, the teens scrambled to complete their task. The first person to finish was Shino, who used his insects to scan his charge before using them to numb the rabbit's leg, quickly setting and healing the broken leg that was bleeding internally. Two more of her classmates finished before Sakura did, having had difficulty finding her rabbit's injury—broken ribs and a punctured lung, which she healed quickly—and finishing at the same time as Ino. The two rivals glared at each other as they walked, soon beginning to run, towards the obstacle course as they were directed.

* * *

><p>The second portion of the exam was relatively easy; they went through the course of slightly dangerous obstacles and if someone was injured, they would send one of the Medics in training to go through and heal them before completing it.<p>

As always, Naruto had set the best time, though Sasuke had come surprisingly close, and Kiba came in third. Sakura had come ninth with Hinata completing it in time to earn tenth. Shino managed to secure himself into thirteenth place with Ino landing in seventeenth, much to the rosettes amusement. Chouji came in twenty-first while Shikamaru, as always, came in last.

"Now, would the students who placed in the top forty-five, please come with me?" another proctor called, waiting until the group had gathered before leading them away with an utterance of, 'Walk this way,' blissfully unaware of how Naruto and Kiba were walking behind him, mimicking the way the Chūnin walked, nose raised and back so straight their chests were puffed out slightly.

Sakura couldn't help the giggle that slipped out past her lips, joining her classmates, as she watched the blond teen act like, well, a normal teenage idiot.

The Chūnin led them out to the academy sparring grounds, on which a small group of teens waited, sitting on the benches around the large sparring circle. Turning, almost catching the two morons, before motioning for them to sit on the benches that were left, he began to explain.

"The final part of your Exam will be a spar against an active Genin. Your goal is to try to last past the five minute time limit." the way most of the boys snorted made the proctor grin. "You will be given permission to use any Jutsu at your disposal, but so will they. Please come up when I call your name. Aberai Mako."

A tall teenage boy walked into the sparring circle, standing in front of a teen just as tall dressed in a hideous green jumpsuit, his Konoha headband tied around his slim waist. His hair was cut in the out of style bowl cut and his eyebrows appeared thick enough to hide a pack of senbon.

"I apologize in advance, but I promised Gai-sensei that if I lose a single match today I would carry a boulder on my back as I scale the Hokage Monument eight hundred times." the greed clad boy stated, standing straight with one arm folded behind his back and one held out in front of him, gaining a grin from his opponent.

"You better hope you have enough chakra to hold yourself to the monument." Mako replied, slipping into his fighting stance.

"Begin!" the proctor shouted, signaling the start of the match. Mako quickly threw two kunai at Lee, hoping to distract the Genin long enough to perform a quick Jutsu. However, before the bald boy could even form a single hand sign, Lee was already behind him, giving him a quick right jab on his shoulder in order to turn him around and connecting a powerful left handed punch on the boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him, making him double over before landing a quick elbow to the back of the younger boy's skull, knocking him out. A brown haired girl stuck her fingers through the loops on the end of the weapons as they passed her, catching the kunai that were thrown. "Winner, Rock Lee! Aberai Mako fails the third portion of the exam!"

The Genin hopefuls sat in complete shock, unable to take their eyes off the seemingly plain looking teen that had just destroyed their classmate, who held sixth place in ranked sparring wins. The students who were under him began to get nervous, wondering how they would survive against any of the other Genin that had gathered, especially since they all looked stronger. The ones who held higher ranks became eager, for the most part, to fight against the fuzzy eyebrowed Genin.

As Lee was turning to return to his seat, a flash of pink caught his attention. When he turned towards it, he was presented with the most beautiful face he had ever seen, accompanied by the most enchanting emerald eyes. In the blink of an eye he was standing before the girl, bowing.

"I know it is ungentlemanly to suddenly ask this but I must know your name." the green clad teen said, gaining a raised eyebrow from Sakura, and unknowingly a fierce glare from Naruto.

"Haruno Sakura." the rosette replied, embarrassed by the attention and trying to ignore the mocking laughter some of the girls were directing at her.

"Haruno Sakura-san, the most beautiful name for the most beautiful girl I have ever met." taking the blush on the girl's face as a good thing, Lee continued. "Please become my girlfriend?"

The students were quiet as they awaited the pink haired girl's response, but before she could, their proctor decided to cut the teenage drama short.

"Lee, we are in the middle of an exam. We will discuss your lack of professionalism later, but for now return to your seat immediately." the order left no room for refusal and the black haired boy returned to his seat. "Now, would Aburame Shino please step up?"

Shino stood and walked into the circle, standing in front of a gray haired teen wearing glasses and a dark purple shirt with matching pants.

"I hear you're the top student for this year's Med-Nin candidates." the Genin spoke, receiving nothing but silence from the coat wearing Aburame. "No need to be modest, I'm a Med-Nin myself. Though I'm not the best of my year." seeing that the boy wasn't going to talk, he dropped into his fighting stance.

Five minutes later, during which Shino held himself relatively well against his opponent, the proctor stopped them. "Enough. Aburame Shino, you've passed the third portion of the exam."

Time passed and several of the students had managed to outlast the time limit, though a few had failed. Chouji had managed to pass, though just barely. Kiba had been the first of the students to actually present a challenge to one of the Genin, earning him a pass and a compliment from the Chūnin proctor.

"Haruno Sakura. Step forward."

With a deep breath to calm her nerves, the pink haired girl stood, walking forward to stand before her opponent, a brown haired girl wearing a Chinese style pink shirt and dark blue pants, name unknown as the proctor only anounced the Genins' names when they won.

"Ooh, I like your hair. It's so pretty." her opponent commented, making the younger girl blush slightly. "I hope you didn't neglect your training in order to take care of it, though."

The words made Sakura stiffen slightly. She could just hear his voice. _"—it wouldn't kill you to put more effort into training instead of pampering yourself—"_ Steeling herself, she became determined to show everyone just how much she really trained.

"Begin!"

As soon as the word left the proctor's lips, the brown haired girl sped towards Sakura, surprising her with her speed that she had yet to show in her other fights. Once she was close enough she aimed a punch at the stomach of the green-eyed girl, who managed to block it but failed to block the kick that immediately followed, sending her skidding across the ground. Flipping back to her feet, Sakura launched three kunai before running behind them, ready to strike the moment the girl dodged.

Smirking, the brunette swiped her hand the moment the kunai were close enough, catching them all with her index finger by their loops, and quickly sending them back, making the pink haired girl jump out of the way. While still in mid air, Sakura felt a knee connect with her ribs, changing her original flight path. Landing with a thud, Sakura heard a sigh.

"I guess you did spend more time brushing your hair than you did training." the older girl said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's girls like you that give Kunoichi a bad rep."

Standing shakily, Sakura glared at the Genin girl, furious. Going on the offense, she ran towards the older girl, making quick hand seal as she did. **"Bunshin no Jutsu!"** with a puff of smoke four Sakuras appeared, running towards the brown haired girl, kunai in hand.

"An academy Jutsu won't work on me, kid." waiting until the clones were close enough, the girl struck out at the Sakura in the middle right. "I can hear your footsteps!" to the older girl's surprise, her hand passed through her target, revealing the real Sakura behind the clone. She recovered quickly though; dodging the kunai the younger girl threw before moving to attack the girl herself. Her surprise when she heard a smoke cloud erupting behind her was to be expected as Sakura dropped on top of her. _'Crap, a _Kawarimi_ with the kunai?'_

Tacking her opponent to the ground, Sakura pressed her kunai to the girl's throat. When she saw the girl tried to reach for her own equipment, Sakura pressed the Kunai harder, drawing a small amount of blood.

"Winner, Haruno Sakura!" their proctor shouted, declaring for the first time a student winner. Upon his statement Sakura got off the brown haired girl, offering her a hand to help her up. The girl accepted it.

"I hope I proved to you that I do train." Sakura said, almost a whisper, making the older girl stare at her curiously, as she wasn't looking at her but at someone behind her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have presumed just because I was jealous of your hair." the older girl said, snapping Sakura's attention from whoever it was on and back towards her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. With a point of her fingers, the girl directed Sakura's gaze to the two buns atop her head. "My hair is so damaged that I just hide it in these buns." she admitted, smiling.

Sakura smiled back. "If you want, I can tell you what shampoo I use. It saves me so much time that I used to spend having to brush my hair a million times." the girl giggled but stopped as she felt a sting on her neck. "Oh, let me fix that for you." putting her hands on the girl's neck, she channeled some of her Chakra to heal the small cut.

"If you two are done, we need to continue." the proctor said, making the two girls blush as they walked back to their seats.

The matches continued, with Hinata outlasting her time limit against a purple haired Genin boy who kept trying to catch her with spikes wrapped around his fingers. Shikamaru managed to catch his opponent in his _Kagemane_ technique and managed to make him submit, seeing as the boy's weapons holster was on the opposite side as his own and made him pull out a kunai which he then forced him to hold against his throat, earning him the win.

Sasuke's match was rather exciting, and dangerous, due to the number of fire Jutsu the raven-haired boy used against his gray haired opponent, Kabuto, the same one who had fought Shino. The spectators had to jump out of the way often as the raven-haired teen's attacks missed. In the end the time ran out, something that aggravated him as he was looking for a win.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Step forward." the proctor called, slightly shocked when the boy simply appeared in the middle of the sparring circle, before his opponent, the same person who had fought the Hyuuga heiress, entered.

"Proctor-san, I request to have my test conducted against Rock Lee." Naruto stated, staring the green clad boy square in the eyes. Upon the proctor's approval, Lee also _shunshined_ into the circle.

"I am honored that the Hokage's son wants to spar against me personally." spoke Lee, bowing, missing the look the blond was giving him.

Naruto didn't know why, but he wanted to crush the teenager before him, wanted to show him that it was unacceptable to try to move onto another's territory. He idly wondered if Sakura had been oblivious to the boy's encouraging shouts or if she had been ignoring him, but between that and his earlier declaration, Naruto felt he needed to make an example of him.

"It's nothing, Lee. I just want to test myself against the strongest opponents." Naruto's words weren't complete lies. Thus far, every opponent Lee had faced had been quickly defeated and received a failing mark. Lee was basically undefeated.

"Yes, it is always good to test yourself against stronger opponents. I can see that your fires of youth burn strongly, Naruto-san!" the black haired teen's shout made Naruto wonder how someone so... weird could be so strong.

_'Against stronger opponents?'_ Naruto thought as the proctor began the match and Lee vanished, only to appear in the air to the blond's right, a kick aiming for his head. _'I'm sorry, but no.'_ Naruto caught the kick and pulled the airborne boy, aiming his own kick at the boy's chin, not really surprised when Lee caught it.

The two boys jumped apart, landing agilely before sprinting towards each other again. Lee leapt into the air, spinning once as he yelled;

**"Konoha Senpū!"**

Unfortunately for Lee, Naruto had already seen the attack, from the few times he had spent the day with his father's former student when he was younger.

_'Aim one kick up high to force your opponent to duck and hit them with the second kick from down low.'_ Naruto mentally reviewed what he remembered, crossing his fingers in front of him. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** with a cloud a smoke three perfect copies of the blond appeared, one moving to grab the high kick while the other caught the low kick. Naruto ran up the back of his last clone, somersaulting above the green clad Genin before bringing down his heel, aiming for the boy's face.

Without a second to spare, Lee pulled himself towards the clones, squatting in their hold and narrowly dodging the sandaled heel. Hitting the two clones that were restraining him with his palms he managed to dispel them before flipping forward to make some distance between him and his opponent, striking the last clone with a swift kick to the back of the head before he landed, returning to his fighting stance.

"This is proving to be an excellent spar so far, Naruto-san." Lee said to the blond boy across the field, who was kneeling. "I thank you again for requesting to spar with me."

Naruto grinned at the older teen, though inside he was rather annoyed. The fight was proving to be much more difficult than he had expected. Clearly the boy in front of him was stronger than the average Genin. Possibly Chūnin material.

"It's exciting because we're both giving it our all, so don't thank me." Naruto replied, eliciting a smile from the Genin, while he himself growled mentally. "Let resume, shall we?" Naruto suggested when his ankle had finished healing, going through a small series of hand signs. **"Fūton: Kyōryokuna Kaze no Jutsu!"** he shouted as a blast of air shot out of his mouth, lifting the surprised older teen off his feet, carrying him a few meters back before settling down.

Unknown to the two combatants, the powerful gust of wind had also caused the skirts of several of the girls to rise up, revealing their panties. The boys went crazy, offering their gratitude to the, 'Wise Naruto-sama,' while the girls turned red with embarrassment and anger, shouting, 'Ero-Naruto!'

One rosette in particular was furious, even though she had her trademark spandex shorts on under her red slit skirt, she was mad that all of the boys had seen most of her female classmates panties. All because of the blond's technique.

_'I bet he planned that, that pervert.'_ Sakura thought angrily, glaring at the blond as he ducked under a fast kick before grabbing Lee's outstretched leg and throwing the teen over his shoulder and quickly following. _'If he wasn't in the middle of an exam, I'd punch him into next week!'_

_**"Hell yeah, teach him that just because we're not around to keep him in line, doesn't mean he can go around being a pervert like his godfather!"**_ shouted the voice inside Sakura's head that had appeared almost two months ago, after she had accepted the end of her friendship with Naruto. A voice which she had begun to refer to as Inner Sakura, for it only seemed to come out whenever she tried to restrain herself from being herself.

Choosing to ignore the voice, as she pretty much always did, Sakura focused her attention back on the match in front of her in time to see Lee duck under a roundhouse kick from his blond opponent and maneuvered himself behind the younger boy.

"**Kage Buyō!"** the Genin shouted, kicking Naruto up into the air as he turned before jumping after him, following the younger teen closely from behind. Once in place the bandages that had been covering his forearms had begun to unravel, moving to envelope the blond teen.

"Time!" shouted the proctor, interrupting the Genin's technique. "Uzumaki Naruto passes the third portion of his exam." he declared, motioning for the two teens to return to their seats in order to allow for the final spar to take place. "Yamanaka Ino, please step forward."

The blonde girl stood up just as her blond classmate sat down, a triumphant grin on his face. Inside however, Naruto was royally pissed off. Not only had he not beaten some sense into his opponent, he knew he had begun to be overpowered towards the end of the fight. Not to mention that only four minutes and forty-six seconds had passed when the proctor had ended the fight, and he knew that whatever the green clad Genin was going to do would've not only ended the fight but probably caused some serious damage as well.

He ignored the final fight, not interested in whether or not the Yamanaka won her fight as he had never much cared for her. Even when he and Sakura had been friends, he found the fellow blonde almost insufferable. If Sakura spent half her time worrying about needless things, Ino spent the whole of her time doing just that.

_'Speaking of Sakura,'_ sapphire orbs glanced at the rosette as she watched her, now only, best friend try to hold her own against her opponent, _'what was with that irrational anger I felt towards that Genin?' _Never in all of the years that Naruto had been friends with Sakura had he felt so _possessive_ of her, not even when she would occasionally flirt with Sasuke.

It was strange. He knew that the green clad boy was clearly the strongest of the group of about nine Genin, and had he fought his original opponent he would likely have won. But something had all but possessed him to call the older male out, to fight him and demonstrate that he had no right to say anything to the pink haired girl who had not so long ago been able to make him do just about anything whenever she ran her fingers through his blond hair, soft hands usually gentle but occasionally giving him a playful tug, which would always elicit a hum of approval from him.

"Winner, Yamanaka Ino!" declared the proctor, bringing Naruto out of his musings only to discover he had a slight problem. Somehow, within the last couple of minutes, he had grown an erection, confusing him as to why.

_'What the hell is going on!' _he mentally berated himself, deciding to remain sitting when the proctor instructed them to return to the gymnasium to find out whether or not they had passed the exam, offering an excuse about how his ankle hurt from when he'd missed his attack and he'd catch up.

"Sakura-san." called a voice that made the blond clench his teeth. "Now that this portion of the exam is complete, would you be so kind as to answer my earlier request?" Lee was standing before the pink haired girl, bent over in a low bow.

Sakura stared at the boy, a light pink blush on her face at receiving her first ever date request. Although she had no real reason to reject him, she found herself unable to answer. _'What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?'_ she kept repeating in her mind, hoping for once that Inner Sakura would respond. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that. The voice popped up whenever it wanted, not the other way around. A clatter to her right brought her out of her frantic train of thought.

"Sorry, dropped my kunai." Naruto explained, picking up the mentioned equipment before turning to leave. "You shouldn't take too long, Sakura-chan, or they might be offended enough to fail you." he said before leaving, holding her gaze with his own for the first time in months, making the girl grow weak in the knees while she lost herself in the forever brilliant sapphire eyes that had haunted her wet dreams since she was old enough to begin experiencing them.

"Lee, let's go. We told Gai-sensei we'd return as soon as we were finished here." the brunette girl Sakura had fought called, noting the longing way the rosette was staring at the blond boy her teammate had fought, hoping to spare him the rejection by leading him away.

"But, Tenten—"

"Come on, Lee, do you really want Neji-kun to get solitary training from Gai-sensei?" Tenten cut him off, releasing a sigh of relief when she saw her teammate's eyes glow with determination.

"We must return a once; who knows what super powerful techniques Gai-sensei has taught him while we've been gone!" he shouted, taking off towards the training fields yelling, "I'm coming, Gai-sensei!"

Shaking her head at her teammates actions, Tenten turned to tap Sakura on her shoulder, seeing as the girl was still staring at where the blond had been a few moments ago. _'She must have it bad.'_ the brunette thought as the girl snapped out of her stupor. "You might want to head inside before they really do fail you in absentia."

The look on the rosette's face as she realized that she had been in a small trance was humorous to say the least. "I should go, then." she said, running into the building.

Once inside, Sakura made her way towards the gymnasium, getting there just as they called her name. "I'm here, don't fail me!" she shouted, receiving confused looks from the exam directors.

"What are you talking about, girl? You passed. Come pick up your headband."

With a smile bright enough to make a star jealous, Sakura went and received her headband, bowing to the Chūnin who gave it to her in gratitude.

* * *

><p>"So, how's it feel to be a Genin?" Minato asked his son, smiling widely at the young blond, who rolled his eyes before drinking from his cup.<p>

"It feels good, Tou-san. Just like the last time you asked me. And the time before that. And the time before that." Naruto replied, tiredly, though the small smile on his face made it clear that he wasn't really annoyed.

"I'm just proud of you, son. Out of the sixty students that took the exam, only thirty of you actually passed." Minato couldn't help the feeling of pride that he'd felt since the moment his master had told him that his son had passed, having been silently watching the final portion of the exam. "And to be named Rookie of the year. Maybe I _should_ be worried about you taking my title soon."

"They told us that we would get a summon when our teams were decided. How long should that take?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.

"So long as nothing get's in the way, it should only take about a week." Minato replied, leaning back in his chair at the table. "I'm going to have to decide which kids would work best together, and then I'll need to request whatever Jōnin I feel would be able to teach them what they need to learn. Though in the end it's up to them whether or not to accept."

"But you're the Hokage, isn't an order from you absolute?" Naruto questioned, eyebrow raised in confusion as he watched his father shake his head.

"While that may be true, I don't want to assign the lives of the villages children to someone who isn't completely committed to protecting them." the response made Naruto wonder if his father was referring to him and how some Jōnin might be hesitant to protect him should they run into a life or death situation.

* * *

><p>"I'm so bored!" a pink haired girl yawned, stretching out on her bed, not having anything to do. Five days had passed since her Graduation into the life of a Shinobi and besides training every once in a while she was finding her days become more and more dull as they passed. For a second she felt like searching for her former best friend so she could apologize for overreacting so many months ago. That thought was quickly stomped out of her head by her sense of pride, reminding her that he had been the one to talk about her as if she was one of Sasuke's fan girls.<p>

She had to muffle her groan as she remembered that at one point she had been one, though only for a few weeks, and then she had donned the persona again when she tried to make Naruto jealous, though when it hadn't worked she had dropped the act. Sometimes she wondered if the blond was as dense as he seemed. That was certainly better than thinking that he knew of her crush and simply didn't feel the same way.

Sighing, Sakura sat up when she heard a tapping noise on her window. Shifting her emerald orbs towards the noise, she found a carrier pigeon with a scroll attached to its back. Once she had removed the scroll, the bird flew away, returning to its coop, leaving Sakura to open her letter.

Haruno Sakura, as per regulation of the Hokage's last decree, you have been given the position of medic to team seven, led by Jōnin Hatake Kakashi and consisting of Genins Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and yourself.

Please report to training ground seven at oh-five-hundred hours on December eight, for a formal team meeting. Upon your Jōnin sensei's request, it would be in your best interests to skip breakfast.

Many questions filled her head as she finished reading the letter. Why was she advised to skip breakfast? Why were Naruto and Sasuke on the same team? Besides the fact that they were the two best Genin of their year, their rivalry was known to have escalated to the point that they were not allowed to spar against each other anymore. And now they were being placed on the same team, where they'd train together? They had to know things would get ugly, fast.

Checking the date on her calendar, Sakura noted that her first team meeting would be in three days. Strapping her equipment pouch to her thigh, she jumped out her window to get some training done; becoming determined to show Naruto, and everyone, that she wasn't going to be the teams weakest link, even if her two teammates were the two best students in the academy.

_'We aren't in the academy anymore. This is the real world and everyone has been given a clean slate.'_ the rosette thought as determination flashed in her eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Oh, look. I'm done. Wonder when that happened? Oh well, in case any of you are wondering why I didn't make this chapter about Naruto growing up, it's because I wanted to get to the real action quickly. I didn't feel like writing a chapter or two about the child adventures of Uzumaki Naruto. I'll just go from here and have the occasional flashback if I think something needs to be explained.<p> 


End file.
